Planning Your Trip - Eating in Anaheim

 

Given its close proximity to Disneyland, Anaheim has no shortage of places for dining. Whether you want a sit down meal or to just grab a quick bite on the go there will be plenty of options for your taste and your budget.

Now, there's plenty of online guides to the best foods in Anaheim, including Trip Advisor's recent Top 10 Restaurants in Anaheim, so this guide is going to focus more on what's available near the convention center itself just to keep things manageable.

Anaheim Convention Center & The Food Trucks

Whilst the convention center website and guide don't list the individual restaurants available, instead noting "we feature unique culinary experiences throughout the building within each exhibit hall and lobby", I expect the standard convention fare along with the traditional high prices such events bring.

Still, there's a long to be said for convenience, so if you are planning on eating in the convention center I'd recommend aiming for late morning or mid afternoon to avoid the lunch time rush. Or during any of the major panels, enjoying your meal whilst streaming the latest news from a galaxy far, far away (just make sure you have headphones).

More exciting, at least to me, are the infamous food trucks that normally line the grand plaza outside the front of the convention center during major events. The guide writes that "on our plaza, we specialize in local award-winning food truck events with up to 27 local chef-owned and operated artisan food trucks paired with our local Anaheim brews." I've heard so many fans who went in 2015 praising the food trucks, saying the value and quality was far better than anything offered within the convention center itself. And since they're literally right outside the front door, between the convention center and the connected hotels, they won't cost you much time to visit either. I will definitely be checking these out when I'm in Anaheim!

For drinks I would highly recommend the refillable soft drink cups! $22 for infinite refills for the entire show. We definitely got our money's worth and I really hope they do they again in Anaheim.

Connected Hotels

Convention center food and the food trucks not to your liking? Why not check out the connected hotels! Ok, the Hilton Anaheim and the Anaheim Marriott aren't strictly connected to the convention center like they were in Chicago (where you could cross the street by sky bridge) but they are literally on the door step as part of grand plaza.

The Hilton offers five dining options:

Mix Restaurant - sit down dining featuring organic and natural ingredients from the region

Mix Lounge - a mix of cocktails and appetizers

Pool & Bar Grill - light snacks, burgers, and grills, as well as fresh fruit and salads

Food Court featuring CRAVE Pizza, Costal Mexican Grill, Anaheim Burger Co. and Submarina

Starbucks

Whilst the Marriott features:

nFuse Restaurant, Bar & Lounge - fresh California cuisine infused with a global twist

The Market Cafe - pastries, sandwiches and snacks

Slice Pizzeria - design your own pizza

Nearby & Disney Dining

These are far from your only options. Within a mile you have everything from Subway and IHOP to the Cheesecake Factory (which I can't wait to visit again) and Morton's The Steakhouse. The Visit Anaheim website lists plenty of nearby options, and Anaheim Garden Walk, with plenty of dining options, is literally a block away. These outside options will all likely offer you better value for money than anything inside the convention center so it's well worth checking it out and seeing if anything catches your eye.

And we've not even touched on Disneyland.

Even outside of the parks, Disney offers a wide range of dining options from quick snacks to character dining. Most dining outside of the parks is focused in Disney's hotels (where you'll find three character dining options) and the Downtown Disney area. You'll pay a premium for character dining, but being a big Disney geek I always try and do at least one character dining experience whenever I get chance to visit the parks.

And speaking of the parks, if you want the full Star Wars experience then I think you need to dine in Galaxy's Edge at least once whilst you're in Anaheim. Whilst I wouldn't personally recommend mixing park days with Celebration days (outside of Star Wars Nite), just because you likely won't get the most out of your ticket cost, I would highly recommend planning some park time in before or after Celebration. Especially if you're like me and don't get to visit the West coast that often. Because of this I'm going to cover the dining options on Batuu in a separate Galaxy's Edge guide that you can find here.

Bring Your Own

If you want to do Celebration on a budget, or simply don't have time in your schedule for a proper lunch break, then you're going to want to take food in with you. Taking water and snacks is pretty much essential for any convention, but bringing a packed lunch can really save you both time and money. Plus it's probably healthier too! If you're driving in you can bring some supplies with you, but for those flying in or just wanting to buy provisions once they arrive, there's plenty of options available. There's a Walgreens and CVS within easy walking distance of the convention center, plus both Target and Wal-Mart just a short drive/bus ride away. If you're in a group then splitting the cost on supplies can really save you a lot of money on your food bill.

Most likely, you'll mix it up a bit. Bring some food of your own, eat on site one day and at a local restaurant the next. Just make sure that you do eat and stay hydrated. You'll be on the go almost constantly at Celebration, so it's important to stay fueled up and ready to go.