If you’re visiting Disneyland park this February, you might want to try one of two new dining experiences.
River Belle Terrace will become a table-service location, serving lunch and dinner beginning February 10, 2016. On the menu, look for Southern barbecue staples like ribs, chicken and sustainable seafood alongside enticing starters and sides. Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten dessert—new signature desserts will be available as well. Reservations for River Belle Terrace will be available soon, so stay tuned for more details.
Over in Frontierland, Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante will begin serving breakfast on February 2, 2016. Look for a few favorites from the old River Belle Terrace menu, like the famous Mickey Mouse pancakes, as well as new favorites like Mexican-inspired breakfast entrees. Breakfast will be available until 11:30 a.m. every morning, before switching to the lunch and dinner menu at noon.
Which dining experience are you looking forward to trying? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Nooooo! For as long as I can remember (30? 40? years), our mornings at Dland start (after a couple of rides) with breakfast at the Riverbelle Terrace, sitting on the patio and looking out over the Rivers of America. This is about the only peaceful, calm relaxing time in my entire time at Dland. I hope that this is only temporary. Or maybe they continue breakfast as usual and switch to table service later in the day? No no no people, Dland, don’t do this! Zocalo’s is not the same! I understand that the Rivers will not be rivers for a while, here, but still–nooooooooooo!
For me, I remember having breakfast pancakes at thatched roofed Aunt Jemima’s. (I guess it was more a part of Adventureland back then.)
I really did enjoy watching people on their way to their ‘first ride’ of the day. Later with a ‘Steamboat’ in front of me (Sparrows waiting for crumbs), and with Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain being added, and with the Frontierland Train Station going, RBT became a ‘crossroads’, as people needed to travel through/by the south end of the RoA. (Some where ‘A’ types: “We’ve got to get there quickly!! Hurry, hurry, hurry!!” Others, I could see the wonder and amazement in their eyes, taking it all in, and take pictures of an uncrowded TSI, or MT, or C (or even ducks). [I would also relive my first impressions.])
I enjoyed the kind of calm before the flurry of guests. Although I am sure that ‘Z’ will taste just as good, I’ll miss the calm RoA as Cast Members ready the Mark Twain or Columbia for the day.
Also you need to ringtail the Tahitian terrace. There is a lack of good sit down restaurants with a variety of foods
I wish they would expand the river belle, I think it’s possible to make it into a two story building with great seating on the second floor
No breakfast at River Belle is very sad. Breakfast has been avaliable here since the begmining. It is a tradition to eat there for breakfast, and brings you into the unique history of Disneyland- the only completed park Walt visited. While expanded offerings at River Belle are good, please don’t take away a Disneyland tradition rich in history.
I’m starting to feel like traditions at Disneyland are starting to fade. They’re the reason Disney has such a strong fan base, why families continue to come back for generations. I remember being 3 and watching “Disneyland Fun” sing-along every single morning ( now my sons watch it) and wishing oh so bad to eat pancakes at riverbelle terrace like those kids did. I’m from a small town, born to a single mom, and she couldn’t afford to take me on a trip to Disney ( my first trip was with my aunt!). After college I moved to Southern Californ and started a family. Of course I purchased APs for the whole family because I had been completely obsessed with the theme park and all of the magic. We probably go more than we need it and I don’t take it for granted. Do you know what became a staple in our little outings? We get there first thing in the morning, and head over to river belle terrace for pancakes by ROA. It was something I dreamed about for many years and now a tradition for my little guys and I. They probably won’t notice once the change occurs but I sure will. At least I have those memories to cherish and was able to make my dream come true
With these changes , will the RiverBelle still be an option for Fantasmic dining ?
Thanks !
Breakfast at the River Belle Terrace has been a tradition in our family for years. I hope the change to table service will someday include breakfast again.
Not much of a breakfast burrito girl. If they are going to move some BBQ items to the RBT I hope they also move the beans and Cole slaw and corn on the Cobb.
This seems like a great idea. Since the river will be drained and closed off for more than a year, who wants to eat breakfast staring at a construction wall or a big empty hole? At least you can get the pancakes somewhere else. When the river is back open, I’m sure breakfast will come back.
Wow!! I’m a little sad and disappointed about breakfast at River Belle terrace going away too! While I see wanting to drive traffic and awareness to the other restaurants, I’m with a lot of others on this post…its been a tradition to go and have a Mickey Mouse pancake ever since I was a little girl 🙁 it was fun to share this with my son on our recent trips. Boo 🙁
So sorry to hear about River Belle Terrace no longer serving breakfast. The Mickey Pancakes won’t be the same at Rancho del Zocalo. Another Disneyland tradition gone.
Jeremy — Disneyland trips are largely about traditions for many people… starting new traditions and continuing long-established ones. Traditions are important. And everyone has their ‘things’ that are important to their experience at Disneyland Resort. We may not all value the same ‘things,’ but we all have them. While we are all experiencing Disneyland Resort together, we also all experience it differently. Sometimes it will be the little things — like where Mickey pancakes are served in the park — that will matter, and add dimension to someone’s trip. The ritual of starting one’s day in a specific restaurant and eating a specific food may be a very important tradition for many, though it may seem silly to others.
I don’t know that the River Belle Terrace is becoming a full BBQ restaurant. Is it? I saw a mention of some BBQ items being added to the menu. I guess we shall see what’s in store. I don’t have a problem at all with another table service restaurant opening up, as the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ will be closing and there should be another one added into the mix to balance things out. I just wish it weren’t that specific restaurant that is becoming table service, and even if it has to become table service I wish the pancakes were still going to be served there!
My main point is that eating Mickey pancakes has been something that been firmly connected to the River Belle Terrace for decades. It has always been the only place to go to get the full-sized version of that pancake at Disneyland Resort, and the location and atmosphere were a huge part of the breakfast experience.
This pancake/RBT development is not a deal breaker for my Disneyland experience. In the grand scheme of things, I am much more bothered by the lack of pumpkin carvers during Halloween Time and the lack of a Winter Castle for the Holidays this year. But as I mentioned in my original post, it just won’t be the same (to eat the pancakes in a different restaurant). Plus, there are soooooo many changes happening all at once at DLR — some of them seemingly small and insignificant, and some of them major — that it’s getting to the point where, from month to month, we can’t quite be sure of what is suddenly going to appear or disappear.
wait…… my cinnamon roll french toast will be gone?! NOOOOOOO, guess my family will be eating outside of Disney before we go in. Sad Day
Whew, all these people are somehow disappointed, but I’m excited! Preserving the BBQ tradition down the trail when Thunder Ranch shuts down, preserving the breakfast in Frontierland at Zocalo, introducing Mexican breakfast options (BREAKFAST BURRITOS PEOPLE!), and discontinuing the bland sandwiches at Riverbelle. This is all wins in a time of ENORMOUS changes. Are you guys really that bummed about changing your breakfast traditions to 20 yards north?
Seriously, though: Breakfast… Burritos…
😀
So sorry to hear that the pancakes are no longer being served at the Riverbelle. Does this mean they will not serve breakfast at all? Part of the breakfast experience at the park is people watching first thing in the morning. I don’t find Rancho to be a great place for that. I guess this is because the view from Riverbelle will not be a great one during construction I imagine that the river will be hidden by a wooden wall. Yuck!that makes quite a few table service restaurants in DL park now. Not good news for those looking for QS that is not from a cart.
Sad news indeed. I’m very disappointed that I’ll no longer be able to sit river side while eating a Mickey Mouse pancake and watch the Mark Twain go by.
My sister and I have been talking, and the main reason why we are in favor of this change is because Disneyland needs more table service restaurants. Currently, there is only the Carnation Cafe, Cafe Orleans, and the Blue Bayou. (And Big Thunder Barbecue is closing in January).
I agree with those who have expressed their disappointment wirh the change. We adore the Rancho, but the breakfast pancake meals switch to it seems an odd choice.
Breakfast at River Belle was the best! Especially when you extended it for a few more hours! I loved being able to get breakfast at 11:45, but now that opportunity is gone. So sad.
No more breakfast at Riverbelle Terrace? What?!?!
I’ll certainly miss breakfast at The Riverbelle. Loved watching the river while we ate. I am thrilled that some form of barbecue is staying though. I was hoping Rancho could become the barbecue restaurant. It certainly would fit in better next to Big Thunder. Rancho has always seemed out of place.
I think that this is a pretty cool idea.
I’m going to be 40 years old this year (ugh) but count me as another one who has memories of being a little girl, pressing my nose against the glass watching them make Mickey Mouse pancakes at River Belle. It was so much of a tradition, that when I was in college, friends and I did a Spring Break trip to DL and no one else wanted to get a pancake. So I ate my Mickey Mouse pancake all by my 19-year old, alone self.
Wow… what an odd change.
Will River Belle Terrace’s counter service area be removed?
Also, will there be any vegan options on the menu?
I hope extra tables will be added elsewhere if the whole area is table service. There are a lack of tables for places take away food places and we almost always end up at the tables there with our Gumbo.
So does this mean that there’s going to be tables taken away from normal guests to sit down and relax in? Especially since Stage Door is right next door in terms of seating? If so I shall miss the little table on the upper level facing New Orleans Square.
Also, 11:30am? Has the breakfast time been bumped up from 10:30am? Does this mean I don’t have to book it from the front gate to any of the food places in order to get the breakfast food items!? *v*
So, does this mean no more tie-in with the light show?
Excited to try breakfast at Rancho del Zocalo-it’s one of our favorite lunch spots!
Another Disneyland tradition – Mickey Mouse pancakes on the River Belle Terrace patio while watching the Mark Twain glide by on the Rivers of America – bites the dust. Bummer.
Wow… Is this a temporary change? Breakfast at the River Belle has been a staple tradition in my family for over 30 years!!
While I am, of course, thrilled that the famous Mickey Mouse pancakes are not being discontinued, I am going to be honest and say that it won’t be the same to eat them at Rancho del Zocalo. The pancakes are forever tied in to the River Belle Terrace in my mind.
When I was a little girl (several decades ago!), my group and I would start our days at Disneyland by having breakfast at the River Belle Terrace, specifically so we could have the pancakes and enjoy the overall location and atmosphere. As soon as we walked in to the restaurant we were met with the intoxicating smell of pancakes and syrup, and it was a treat to get in line and watch them being prepared and formed into perfect Mickey shapes. So, whenever I think of River Belle Terrace now I immediately think of that pancake smell that was so strong!
It just won’t be the same at a different restaurant.
There are so, so many changes happening at Disneyland these days — both huge ones and small ones. One after another. It’s a lot to process at one time. 🙂
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