We’re back with another Disney World and Disneyland comparison! Every Wednesday in May, Main Street Gazette and Disney Food Blog are reviewing back-to-back, mirror image foodie havens in the Florida and California parks. Whether you’re headed to the East coast or the West, we’ve got your Disney Food needs covered!

Today, I’ll be checking out Disneyland’s Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port, and Main Street Gazette will be taking a look at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Pizza Planet.

Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port is a counter-service location in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, offering pizza by the pie or slice, salads, and pasta dishes. Built in the space previously inhabited by Flight to the Moon and Mission to Mars, the restaurant carries a space port theme and provides a great spot to grab a bite after numerous flights on Space Mountain.

Atmosphere
Redd Rockett’s is set up in a cafeteria style. You can head to the Salad Station, the Pizza Station, or the Pasta Station to order and receive the dishes you’d like, then grab your beverages and proceed to the check-out location to pay.

From there, you have your choice of outdoor seating in front of Redd Rockett’s, indoor seating, or outdoor seating located outside the back door of Redd Rockett’s, underneath the queue line for Space Mountain.

Indoor Seating Area

When the indoor seating area gets loud and raucous during prime mealtimes, head out the backdoor — you might find relative peace back there.

Space Mountain Pavilion Seating

Eats
The first thing you’ll realize when choosing your food from the Pizza Port is that the space port themeing is reflected even in the menu. From Mars-inara with Meatballs, Venus Vegetarian pizza, and Celestial Caesar Chicken Salad to the “Space-ghetti” on the kids’ menu, ordering your food is going to make you feel like a kid again — like it or not. 😉

And believe me when I say this place can get busy. I’m still pretty sure my husband hasn’t forgiven me for letting him battle the crowds to get the food while I secured a table. My job was most definitely easier.

As I mentioned above, the menu choices are pretty minimal —

Pizza Port Menu -- Click for Larger Image

You can grab a salad:

Salad Counter

Have a slice of pizza, or order a whole pie:

Pizza Counter

Pizza Options by the Slice

Or opt for Pasta:

Pasta Counter

Once you’ve grabbed your beverages, you’re good to go!

Beverage Station

We sampled a piece of “Mega Pepperoni” pizza and the Count-down Chicken Fusilli. The pizza, I have to say, was less than impressive. You know I’m a pizza snob, and I’m completely aware that this is a mass-produced counter service pie, but it’s still pretty bad. The crust was soggy and the toppings were bland. But when you’re sitting in the kind of chaos that is the Pizza Port at dinner time, I can’t imagine that anything tastes all that great…

Pepperoni Pizza Slice

…oh wait. I was wrong. We dove into the pasta next. This stuff looks pretty pedestrian at first, but for those of you who love rich Alfredo-type sauces, you’re gonna love the Count-Down Chicken Fusilli. We had planned on eating only a bit of each dish, as we wanted to save room for a churro later on, but we just kept eating the Fusilli! Seriously, we even started to talk about the fact that we weren’t hungry at all, but were still shoveling fork-fulls of the pasta into our mouths. It was delicious. I have no idea if this was a function of the pizza being so bad that anything after it tasted top-notch or what, but we really, really enjoyed this stuff.

Count-Down Chicken Fusilli

Overall
Once we were finished eating, we took a last look around the place. Massive school groups were running from table to table, children who were exhausted after a day in Disneyland were screaming their heads off, dazed guests with trays full of food were wandering around hoping that a table would miraculously open up (and wondering if they were tired enough to just sit on the floor)… it was chaos. And while that sort of energy might be what you’re looking for on vacation, it’s not what we tend to choose.

We made the decisions right then and there that the next time we visit Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port, it will be right at opening time, or right around 3:30pm, when the lunch crowd is gone and the dinner crowd is still in line for Peter Pan; we’ll order two of the Fusilli so we don’t have to fight over the really cheesy parts; and we’ll sit outside in the back, near Space Mountain. Let this learning be our special piece of wisdom passed on to you. Enjoy! 😉