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Tam O’Shanter Walt Disney Table 31 Review

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While in southern California last month, I had the pleasure of doing the Tam O’Shanter Walt’s Table 31 Experience! Since I didn’t see many reviews on it, I thought I would post one.

Tam O'Shanter

Tam O’Shanter

For those who don’t know, Tam O’Shanter is one of Los Angeles’s oldest family owned restaurants! Having been a local favorite for over 100 years, many famous folks have dined here. In fact, Walt Disney was known to eat here with animators and Imagineers prior the the studios having a commissary! Knowing that many Disney fans eat here, a special Walt’s Table 31 Experience was created! Booking this experience is the only way to guarantee you will be able to eat at the specially designated table that Walt Disney supposedly ate at! Plus, you get to eat from a special menu and get a few special keepsakes.

The Ambiance

The Tam is a Scottish themed steakhouse! If you enjoy themed dining, this is a great place to check out in LA. Just eating here, you know you are surrounded by history. Supposedly, the cottage exterior inspired the Disney animators when working on Snow White’s cottage! Not only that, many TV shows have been filmed here! The restaurant appears in The Office’s series finale and in the show Mad Men!

To add to the atmosphere, the restaurant got napkins from the Disney Company with drawings and notes taken at the Tam. Then, they had those messages and pictures etched into this table! So, it was nice to look at the various images and messages while thinking what discussions may have taken place in this very restaurant! For instance, they claim Imagineers worked on the dinosaurs for the Disneyland Railroad here!

The Food

A restaurant wouldn’t stay in business for 100 years if it wasn’t good! Just for the experience, they have created a special menu! Everyone starts out with Deviled Eggs & Pickled Vegetables plus Bacon-Wrapped Dates! The deviled eggs were good, but pickled vegetables aren’t my thing. I don’t even like regular pickles though. Ha! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the bacon-wrapped dates! I enjoyed the combinations of flavors (salty and sweet).

For my first course, I went with The Tam’s Famous Chili. Even though it had been in the 80’s that day, I had to try it. I would say it’s a pretty good chili. The addition of the cheese and onions took it up a notch. Had I had more stomach space and had it been a cooler day, I would have eaten way more of it.

As for the entree, I had to get the Prime Rib! I’d never had prime rib, so I can’t say that I’m a good judge of such things. However, I will admit that it was good. A little salty, but really tasty. Then again, I typically eat turkey or chicken for my protein. I also enjoyed the accompanying mashed potatoes and creamed corn. The Yorkshire pudding was ok. A little dry, but good.

Lastly, for dessert, I ordered the English Trifle. It reminded me of a fancy strawberry shortcake. It was sweet and a great way to end the meal!

The Experience

Throughout the meal, my waiter shared lots of little tidbits about the restaurant as well as stories about Walt Disney. It was surreal to hear stories that had taken place in this very space. It really felt like I was eating in a place of history.

Additionally, at the end of the meal, my waiter brought me some special keepsakes! I got a Tam pin, a re-print of the special drawing from the Disney Company of the restaurant, and a postcard! I also received a punch card for the experience and was told that the gifts change each time you do it. So, I guess that increases repeatability for the experience.

Is the Tam O’Shanter Walt’s Table 31 Experience worth it?

I booked this meal about 2 months in advance. I prepaid $89 for the meal plus tax and a 20% gratuity. So, it ended up being a really expensive meal. However, I reasoned that it’s more than just a meal. It’s an experience. You are getting to dine at a table in a restaurant filled with history! It’s a unique event that you can’t do anywhere else. Plus, the food is plentiful and tasty! I would say this is worth it for any Disney fan. However, if you aren’t a big Disney fan or don’t enjoy history, you can probably just book a regular table here and enjoy the good food!

Have you ever eaten at Tam O’Shanter? What about Walt’s table?

Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast at Disneyland Review

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On my recent visit to Disneyland, I was able to try Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast! Here’s a look at that experience!

Goofy's Kitchen Halloween Breakfast

Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast

Last year, I was able to do the Fall Brunch at this restaurant. So, this trip, I opted to book a breakfast time slot. Breakfast is a few dollars cheaper ($69 vs $74). Plus, I thought this would give everyone a good idea of the differences between the two meals.

The Characters

Even though I technically ate here last year, I got to see the characters in different costumes! Disney is continuing to use last year’s Halloween costumes at this meal. That’s great for anyone who didn’t visit last year or for anyone (like me) who didn’t get to see everyone in their costumes last year. Once again, I got to meet Goofy, Minnie, Chip, and Dale in last year’s costumes! Unfortunately, I missed out on seeing Pluto.

You get a picture with Goofy when you first arrive and it’s uploaded to your Disney account. Then, you see the other characters during the meal. I had several great interactions with the characters at this meal. In fact, I wore last year’s Disneyland Halloween shirt to this meal, which matched this meal’s vibe and costumes! Minnie actually noticed my shirt and was excited about it!

The Food

As I stated above, I booked a breakfast time slot. However, I have to admit I was a touch disappointed with the food this time. The waffles were as hard as a rock! I tried to cut an ear off and it was almost too hard to cut! The pizza was also tough and hard to cut or bite. I don’t remember what it was called, but there’s also a Mickey shaped egg thing. It tasted ok enough but was also tough. I’m guessing the food was left sitting out too long and got hard/tough.

The dessert spread was plentiful. Although, it’s still odd to me that they serve dessert at breakfast. The beignets/donuts were pretty good. I also liked the cinnamon roll.

Is Goofy’s Kitchen Halloween Breakfast worth it?

At $69, it’s a pretty pricey meal! Personally, given the quality of the food, I was disappointed in this meal. I think from now on I will just stick with brunch as I prefer those types of foods. Plus, it seems like that food might be fresher.

Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour Review

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On my recent solo trip, I got to take the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour! Here’s a review of that experience to help you decide if it’s worth it.

Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour

Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour

Given how much I enjoyed Walt’s Main Street Story Tour last year, I decided to book the new Disneyland 70th Anniversary Guided Tour for this trip. Unlike last time though, I booked this tour in advance. In fact, I booked it 60 days out when I booked my dining reservations as I was sure that I wanted to do it. Unlike the other tour, it’s 2 hours (versus 90 minutes) and slightly cheaper ($120 vs $160).

The Walking Tour

At the start of the tour, everyone is given an ear piece, a lanyard, and a pin with your name on it to wear. The ear piece helps you hear the tour guide better and they play some old clips of Disneyland promotional things from 70 years ago. The walking tour is basically a walk around the park with a brief look at each land and facts about opening day attractions in each land. We rode the Disneyland Railroad from Tomorrowland to New Orleans Square. Then, we rode the Main Twain Riverboat. Both rides opened with the park.

We also received a Lightning Lane Entry for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. I rode this right after the tour since the tour ends outside Toontown.

Each of us also received a special pin. You can see the keepsake pin in the 3rd image in my Instagram post. I like that it features the Mark Twain since we rode it on the tour. I also liked the nod to Autopia since I met Bob Gurr while in California on this trip!

I will admit, the tour itself is kind of dry. We didn’t really do much that you couldn’t do on your own. It wasn’t special access to a hidden area of the park or anything. In fact, I’m not sure I learned many new facts on the tour. So, I wouldn’t book this tour solely for the tour itself…

Paint the Night Viewing

The real reason I wanted to book this tour was that it came with reserved viewing of the new Paint the Night parade! I didn’t feel like dealing with people squishing me since I was by myself. So, a reserved area to view the parade from with less people sounded great to me! Plus, they gave us some popcorn to munch on while we waited for the parade! It was so nice to be able to spread out while viewing the parade. Plus, it made for a great way to end the day at the park.

Is the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Tour worth it?

A two hour tour probably isn’t ideal for a first time visitor. $120 isn’t exactly cheap either. While I really enjoyed the reserved viewing for the parade, I think it’s harder to recommend this tour for most folks. While I don’t regret taking the tour, I just think it’s harder to justify this one. It’s interesting to be guided around the park and to hear stories about its opening. However, the vast majority of the information shared is already online. This is mostly for people are interested in the park history but just starting to learn about it. It’s also great for people wanting a reserved space for the parade. Everyone else probably won’t find it worth the time and money.

Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner Review

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I’ve just returned from another solo trip to Disneyland where I got to experience the new Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner! So, here’s a review of that experience.

Clarabelle's Enchanted Halloween Dinner

Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner

Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner is the newest seasonal character dinner meal at Disneyland Resort. It’s held at Storytellers Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel during dinner only. During the morning hours right now, you can experience Mickey’s Autumn Adventures Brunch or Breakfast, which I was lucky enough to do last year. You can click that link to read my review of that meal.

I will start by saying that this turned into a really long meal. For whatever reason, they were running behind schedule. I wasn’t seated until 20 minutes after my reservation time. An hour later, I had seen only two characters! It took right at two hours to see everyone! I don’t know that I’ve had a character meal last that long since they are usually pushing you out the door. However, I did notice several people approaching the characters before they came to their table. If you are reading this, please don’t do that. The whole point of a character meal is that the characters come to your table while you are eating.

The Characters

The best part of this meal has to be the special characters! Let’s start with the fact that it’s headliner is Clarabelle Cow! I actually had never met her, so it was exciting to finally meet her. Also, I’m a sucker for Donald. So, I am happy to see Disneyland adding more Donald to the character meals. Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto are also at this meal.

Plus, I loved that the characters are wearing Halloween costumes! It was the perfect way to begin my Halloween trip to Disneyland!

The Food

Given the high price tag for this meal, I appreciated the various food options here. The standout items to me were the lobster ravioli and pumpkin bread pudding. The ravioli was the only thing I went back for for seconds. The salmon was also pretty good as were the mashed potatoes. The apple cider pork chop didn’t have as much of an apple cider flavor as I was hoping for. The chicken was a little dry. The vegetable medley was good but basic. The pumpkin cookie was fine. I actually liked the bat macaron. It features a peanut butter cream that I really liked. The chocolate cake thing was meh for me. A little one note.

Overall, it’s an elevated buffet meal. I think there’s something for everyone at this meal.

Is Clarabelle’s Enchanted Halloween Dinner worth it?

It costs $79 per adult, plus tax and gratuity to eat this meal (Kids are $42). So, it’s a really expensive meal. Plus, this experience ended up running long. So, I think those are important pieces of information to know before declaring this meal worth it or not. Personally, I enjoyed the food and loved meeting the characters in their unique costumes. So, it was worth it for me. However, it’s definitely a budget buster and time suck. I can see other folks determining it’s not worth it.

Solo Oogie Boogie Bash Tips

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Are you considering taking a solo Oogie Boogie Bash trip? Then, here’s a post for you!

Solo Oogie Boogie Bash

Solo Oogie Boogie Bash

Disneyland‘s annual Halloween party began on Sunday! So, you may be planning or contemplating attending this year’s event by yourself! If so, I have some experience that I can use to tell you about to help put you at ease!

My Experience

I attended the 2024 OBB by myself and had an excellent time! In fact, I may be heading there by myself again this year. 😉 Suffice it to say, I really enjoy myself at this seasonal party. I love seeing the park decked out in Halloween decor and getting to meet the characters dressed up for the occasion! I also love the parade at this party! Let’s not forget the treat trails and Villains Grove!

Last year, I had a light dinner and a peanut butter coffee to start my night! I relaxed around Pixar Pier while eating my dinner on a bench and people watched. Finally, at 6 o’clock the party began! I headed over to the plain treat trail nearby (the one without a character) to get a good start on filling my bag. Then, I hit up the Sid treat trail (which had a pretty good wait at that point in the night). I decided then and there to attempt to visit all 12 treat trails in one night.

Next, I enjoyed some snacks at the dessert party and watched the parade. I then beelined it towards Villains Grove before everyone else had the chance to head over after the parade. Then, I ran around hitting up the other 10 treat trails! Once I finished those, I decided to ride Radiator Springs Racers! There wasn’t much of a wait around the second parade and it was nice to see it at night.

After that, I was pretty tired and decided to call it a night. I headed back to the room with a bag overflowing with treats!

Tips for Attending by Yourself

  • Have an idea of what you want to do – I decided early on in the night that I wanted to attempt to hit up all 12 of the treat trails. So, that set the tone for the night. I ran around the park just to hit them all up.
  • Go fast or go slow – Being alone, you can move much quicker than when you have to wait for someone else or discuss plans. However, the opposite can also be true. You set the pace and you can decide to sit and rest for a bit. It’s up to you how fast you go.
  • Don’t be afraid – People are enjoying themselves and don’t care if you are by yourself. The characters won’t care either. Although, if you attend the dessert party, you will be seated with other single folks or couples.
  • Consult the map or app – Most of the party will happen after sunset. So, you may need to consult a map or the app to figure out where things are. It can be helpful to get an idea of what you want to do in the daytime and then try to find it beforehand.
  • Have fun! – It’s your night! Do what you want! Enjoy it!

Attending Oogie Boogie Bash Solo

I love traveling by myself. I get to enjoy things without worrying about someone else. It can get lonely at times, but there’s lots of opportunities to interact with other guests and the characters at this party. So, are you considering attending or have you attended OBB by yourself?