Trip to Disneyland

What makes this hotel a good place to stay while visiting Disneyland is not what you will find inside. In fact, one night cigarette smoke filtered into our room through the "ventilation" system (we had a nonsmoking room). Worse, there really is little to no security here, so be sure to keep your room locked at all times. On the other hand, it is only a 5-minute walk to Disneyland's Main Gate and the price is really unbeatable. The room was moderately sized, nothing special whatsoever, but because I was visiting Disneyland, minimal time was spent in the room, really only at night to sleep and of course before we left for the park the next morning.

 

 

Mimi's Cafe, which is not part of the hotel, contrary to what the HJ website suggests, has decent food and is a nice change of pace if you have been eating at Disneyland all week. While it is family-friendly, I wouldn't recommend it if you have children and want them to have the classic Disney experience, because the hotel is the bare minimum, no frills. It is a place to rest at night. That is it. Overall, the room was not that great, but if you would rather save your money for activities and not put it towards a room you won't be spending much time in, Howard Johnson is a good choice.

Rainforest Cafe is exactly what you would expect: mediocre food and mediocre service. If you have never been to a Rainforest Cafe before, I suggest that you take a look at the website, because this place is hard to describe. You are eating in a rain-forest-themed restaurant, surrounded by animatronic animals and fake "thunderstorms" every 15 minutes or so. It is somewhat entertaining for the first 10 minutes, then the loud noises and animals get on your nerves. The food is nothing great at all; it's just the experience that you would go for. It's great for kids, but otherwise I would not recommend eating here.

This small restaurant is located across the street from the Howard Johnson's. (Don't be fooled by HJ's website, which would lead one to believe it is on-site dining.) Apparently this place is very popular, because we arrived without reservations, waited 20 minutes, and were told that this was a short wait. The food was extremely reasonably priced and tasted good. It is SUCH a nice change of pace from the little food kiosks in Disneyland. For example, it is great if you took a break from Disneyland and on the way back to the park you needed a place to stop and get a bite to eat before returning. The wait staff was friendly and we never felt rushed, even though there were people overflowing from the lobby waiting for a table. There were lots of choices to suit every taste, including children. Overall, we had good food at great prices.