Our family of three had reservations for the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney in December of 2006. This was for 2 adults and a 4 year old child. I checked in approximately 15 minutes before our reservation as my husband went to get a newspaper.
Within minutes, our name was called and I went to the desk to pick up my confirmation paper, which tells everyone where we are supposed to be sitting. I waited a few minutes for my husband to return and then we made our way inside.
Our seating was for the Aztec section upstairs. Heading toward the stairs you walk through the gift shop, which seemed to have quite a few nice souvenirs. We headed up the stairs to a second check-in desk. Here, they took my slip of paper; pulled menu's and showed us to our table. We were seated before our reservation time came up, which was wonderful.
The table they had chosen for us was between a small waterfall and a large black gorilla. We were given menus, asked what we would like to drink, and then left to decide on our meal choices. While deciding, the Rainforest Café erupted in a thunderstorm. During the storm you hear thunder, animals making noises, and 'see' lightning. Alex, our four year old was not concerned about this at all. The gorilla next to him (slightly behind him) was pounding his chest and carrying on, and it never bothered him at all. Across from us, there was a family with a much younger child (he appeared to be right around 1 year old), and these storms terrified him. The storms erupt every 15 minutes or so, and this poor child would start crying and get very upset each time.
We ordered the chicken for our son, which came with sliced carrots and ranch dressing, much to his delight, since that seemed to be his food of choice this trip. Andy had the pepperoni pizza, and I had the shrimp platter. The food was brought out rather quickly, all hot, and done to perfection. Alex had a few bites of chicken, but much preferred the carrots and dipping sauce. The pepperoni pizza was very good, which was a nice surprise for my husband, who won't eat chicken or fish products. My shrimp platter was incredible. My husband did find it odd that I ordered it, since one of the shrimp styles was crab stuffed shrimp, and I don't like crab. Well, to me, it was more important to have the fresh shrimp, since I can never get that where we live. It was very easy to pull the crab out of that shrimp, so I did enjoy that type of shrimp just fine that way. Also included was fried shrimp, which was wonderful. My meal also came with a soup or salad, and I chose the clam chowder soup. This soup was absolutely incredible! I have never tasted clam chowder that good before, and recommend it wholeheartedly.
After finishing, I ordered the Volcano for dessert. This is a brownie sundae type dessert. It comes with three triangular brownie pieces which form a tent over the ice cream. Then chocolate sauce is drizzled over the whole concoction. A straw type item is inserted down the center with foil pieces made to look like a sparkler or such item. The three of us did not make much of a dent in this decadent dessert, but it did taste absolutely wonderful.
We enjoyed the service, which was impeccable, the atmosphere, which was a lot of fun, and definitely wonderful to look at, and the food, which was very good. We will definitely go back, but next time I would love to sit near the elephants! I highly recommend this restaurant. This kids meal selection was amazing, with approximately 10 items available to choose from. If you have a family member who won't eat chicken or fish, there is the pizza - and many choices for toppings. There are few places we eat at without fail each time we go to the Disneyland Resort. The Rainforest Café has now joined that short list as a favorite place to eat.
Other Reviews
We took our 1 year old for her birthday in October of 2005 (although we've eaten at several in various locations since then as well.) The gorilla in the bottom shop area was a huge hit, as were all the animals in the restaurant. We ordered pizza for her as that had become a new favorite food. Not as soft as I would have liked for a small child, but still good. Not as good tasting at Napolini or Goofy's Kitchen though. She tried french fries there for the first time and really liked those as well. The scenery can't be beat for a child. The staff was nice and pleasant, although a little on the slow side and forgot to bring the desert. As there isn't a lot of patience for small kids to sit and wait, that was difficult. Overall I would still highly recommend this place for anyone with children.
Review written by our
disney forum member Shawna.