The Complete Guide to Iced Tea in Disneyland

Iced tea is a necessity for me when it comes to any amusement park, especially the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. I have listed and reviewed the best places to get iced tea in the three different parts of the resort area (Disneyland, California Adventure, and Downtown Disney). For a summery scroll to the bottom of the page.

Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney has the most options for fresh brewed iced tea.

Starbucks

No matter where you are in the world, it is likely a Starbucks is nearby. As in most cases, Starbucks in Downtown Disney is a safe option for iced tea. At $3.45 for a venti sized, it’s also not a bad value compared to drinks in other areas of the park. This is one of the three Starbucks locations in the resort area and it is located near the end of Downtown Disney close to the park security tables. A second location near the Lego store is expected to open in mid to late 2016. The negative for all Starbucks iced tea is that you can’t get refills.

Update: on a 2017 visit to Disneyland I actually was able to get a free refill with my wife’s Starbucks gold card. Company policy is to only allow refills on the same visit (read more here) but this location was very generous and gave me a refill more than four hours after I originally purchased the drink.

Earl of Sandwich

This sandwich shop is a great place to get both food and iced tea in Downtown Disney. The price of $2.99 for a regular size and $3.49 for a large is a pretty good value considering you can get as many refills as you want. They serve their own brand of fresh brewed iced tea, which is pretty good tasting. Taking everything into account this is my number one choice for getting iced tea in Downtown Disney.

La Brea Bakery

This cafe is located at the end of Downtown Disney closest to the park entrance. It has both table service and a walk up portion of the restaurant. The walk up portion is not a terrible option for getting a last minute iced tea before you enter the park. The price is higher than Starbucks and Earl of Sandwich at $3.95, but the self serve refills makes that higher price a little easier to swallow (pun intended). The tea is freshly brewed Harney & Son’s and usually tastes pretty good, but I have had tea from here on a few separate occasions that has tasted very stale.

Haagen Daz Ice Cream

The Haagen Daz shop in Downtown Disney serves Pete’s Coffee & Tea products, which makes pretty good tasting fresh brewed iced tea. The price however makes this a bad option for iced tea. At $4.50 for a regular and $5 for a large, this location wins the award for most expensive tea in the Disneyland Resort area. Also there is no option for refills.

Tortilla Jo’s

There are many table service restaurants in Downtown Disney, Tortilla Jo’s being one of them. The iced tea here is fresh brewed and good tasting, but it’s not really a convenient place to get an iced tea to go.

Disneyland

In terms of getting a quick iced tea on the go, there are less options inside the Disneyland park.

There are a number of counter service restaurants that all offer the same drink options in Disneyland. The restaurants that I am referring to include: Redd’s Rocketts Pizza Port and Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland, French Market in New Orleans Square, Hungry Bear Restaurant and Harbor Galley in Critter Country, River Belle Terrance and Stage Door Cafe in Frontierland, and Village Haus Restaurant in Fantasyland.
The iced tea these restaurants offer is Gold Peak tea but it is not the fresh brewed type. I am not a fan of this iced tea and you can read my entire review of it here. The price is $3.29 for a regular and $3.69 for a large at all locations. Most of these concessions don’t offer refills, but there are a few like Pizza Port that do.

Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante

This Mexican food restaurant is located near the entrance of Frontierland. On the surface this looks like just another place to get food like the counter service restaurant I spoke of above. However when you look closer, the iced tea option here is far superior than most other places in Disneyland. Rancho del Zocalo is one of the very few places you can get fresh brewed iced tea. There is only one sized cup for $3.29 but this is also one of the few places that lets you get refills in Disneyland. Taking all this into account Rancho del Zocalo is my top choice for iced tea in Disneyland.

Cafe Orleans

This is a table service restaurant in New Orleans Square. The food and beverages are a bit pricey but the iced tea is fresh brewed and good tasting. You can only get refills while dining (no refills to go).

Starbucks

Again, Starbucks is always a safe place to get iced tea. In Disneyland the Starbucks is somewhat discrete. If you are walking into the park, it is located on the right side of main street, in a building labeled “Market House”. The price is the same as in Downtown Disney at $3.45 for a venti. They do not offer gold card refills (read more about Starbucks refills here)

Club 33

Dining at the exclusive Club 33 in Disneyland is not something that many get the chance to do. However if you do get that chance, rest assured the iced tea will not disappoint. They serve great tasting fresh brewed iced tea that compliments the wonderful food and service. You can read my full review here.

California Adventure

Good iced tea options in California Adventure are somewhat limited. Like Disneyland, California Adventure has many counter service restaurants which serve the same unpleasant tasting Gold Peak tea I spoke of above. These restaurants include Award Wieners in Hollywood Land, Flo’s V8 Cafe in Cars Land, Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill, Lucky Fortune Cookery, and Pacific Wharf Cafe on Pacific Wharf. As well as Paradise Garden Grill on Paradise Pier, and Smoke Jumpers Grill at Grizzly Peak. The price is the same as in Disneyland at $3.29 for a regular size and $3.69 for a large. Paradise Garden Grill is the only location where refills sometimes may be allowed.

Starbucks

Starbucks is again a safe, and in this case, probably the best iced tea option in the entire California Adventure park. Like in Disneyland, this Starbucks location is somewhat discrete. It is located at the end of Buena Vista Street inside Fiddler Fifer & Practical Cafe. The price is the same as the other locations at $3.45 for a venti. One thing is that the line at this Starbucks is always extremely long meaning you will usually have to wait a while for a good iced tea in California Adventure.

Cathay Circle Restaurant

This Restaurant in the circle at the end of Buena Vista Street has iced tea listed on their menu. This is a high end table service restuarant, so I am guessing it is unlikely you are going to get a cup of iced tea to go. I have yet to dine at this restaurant so I can not speak to the quality of their iced tea. Check back for more details.

Wine Country Trattoria

This is another restaurant I have not had the pleasure of dining at, but they do have “freshly brewed Nestea iced tea” listed on their menu, which is a good tasting tea. PCH Grill inside Paradise Pier Hotel also serves this brand of fresh brewed iced tea, which you can read about here. Again this is a somewhat upscale establishment, so a togo cup probably isn’t an option.