Dining Packages at Disneyland

Dining was one of the things I researched when I decided to go to Disneyland for Halloween this year. Some suggested saving money by bringing in your own food, but others recommended the dining packages that go along with some of the events. I ended up deciding to do the Blue Bayou Halloween Screams, Carthay Circle Frozen, and Sonoma Terrace Paint the Night dining packages. All of these are pricey, so are they worth it? The food and service were excellent (especially the service at Carthay Circle), in my opinion, but I found Halloween Screams and Paint the Night to be most worth the price. With Frozen, you get priority seating to one of the afternoon shows. I did get a seat close to the front and in the center, but the show wasn't sold out and I likely would've had a good seat regardless.

On the other hand, the Halloween Screams dining package provides seating in a prime location for the parade and I didn't have to camp out for it like I saw so many others doing. It was also easy to get to a good firework viewing area from the reserved parade location.

The same can be said for Sonoma Terrace's Paint the Night as you get to watch the parade from a great location while dining.

I wanted to pack in as much Disney as possible, so these two were definitely worth it for me. If I could only pick one, I'd go with Paint the Night. It was the most bang for the buck with an excellent view, a chair to sit in, and time maximization of eating during the parade. They also send you off with a small box of truffles. The dining packages do sell out pretty quickly, so check the Disneyland website for booking as soon as your date is 60 days out if you want to get a dining package.