Ringing in the New Year in Style : Celebrations: Hotels, resorts and restaurants have planned a wide array of menus, entertainment and other ways to toast 1991.

Balloons will cascade and champagne corks will pop as scores of Orange County restaurants and hotels celebrate New Year’s Eve next week. Here are some possibilities for your ring-in-the-new celebration, culled from various areas of the county to help you minimize your driving.

Complimentary transportation home (within a 10-mile radius of the restaurant) will be provided by John Dominis in Newport Beach, where the staff will celebrate the arrival of 1991 with a seven-course dinner, open bar, live music and dancing. The menu includes grilled double lamb chops with rosemary, poached Norwegian salmon on fried spinach, broiled tenderloin of Angus beef with apple-smoked bacon, sauteed Hawaiian opakapaka with spicy tamarind sauce or oven-roasted breast of duck stuffed with spiny lobster tail, served with sesame ginger sauce. The party begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets ($125 per person) must be purchased in advance. 2901 W. Coast Highway. (714) 650-5112.

For New Year’s Eve with a panoramic view of the Newport Harbor area, make your reservation at the View Lounge at the top of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club. There’ll be live entertainment from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and an hors d’oeuvres buffet with carved top round of beef, seafood dumplings, spring rolls and assorted cold canapes, cheeses and breads. At midnight everyone gets a complimentary split of champagne. This is another reservations-only affair: $150 per couple or $60 “per bar stool.” For a total of $299, you can also stay overnight in an ocean view room. 900 Newport Center Drive. (714) 640-4000.

At the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, Pavilion is serving a six-course feast that includes talapia with lobster and truffle meuniere, pan-seared veal chop with angel hair pie in an apple bourbon sauce and, for dessert, a 24-carat chocolate torte obsession. The price of $175 includes wine and a champagne toast at midnight. In the Four Seasons’ Cabana Cafe, the 6 p.m. early bird special five-course menu costs $75 for adults, $55 for children under 12 and includes a choice of filet of salmon on a bed of lentils with Chardonnay-thyme sauce, or roasted veal loin with wild mushroom sauce. At the 9 p.m. seating, the dinner expands to six courses and the prices increase by $10. 690 Newport Center Drive. (714) 759-0808.

At Cafe Mozart in San Juan Capistrano, there’ll be live music and two seatings--5:30 and 8 p.m.--and a choice between half a dozen entrees including wild game. Prices are $18.95 to $25. 31952 Camino Capistrano. (714) 496-0212.

The Cellar in Fullerton will also offer two seatings, at 5 and 8 p.m. Five-course feasts will be served; the $80 tab includes champagne. At the later seating, and until 2 a.m., Curt Hespe’s group will play for dining and dancing. 305 N. Harbor Blvd. (714) 525-5682.

The Disneyland Hotel caters to adults and children with separate New Year’s Eve parties. A black-tie-optional gala in the Grand Ballroom will entail a four-course dinner with wine and champagne, two dance bands, gaming tables a la Monte Carlo and strolling magicians. $129 per person. The kids’ party, from 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., will focus on visits from Disney characters, screenings of Disney movies, games and a buffet, and will be supervised by youth counselors. $35 per child. 1150 W. Cerritos Ave., Anaheim. (714) 778-6600.

The Ritz in Newport Center traditionally has reserved its 8:30 seating for the Ritz Brothers, an informal club made up of regular customers. But this year, both that and the 5 p.m. seatings are open. Fifty dollars for the first, $100 for the second. Each includes “the Ritz carousel of seafood” including medallions of lobster, Dungeness crab legs and gulf prawns, and a choice of entrees: Australian lobster tails, noisettes of veal with wild mushrooms, roast rack of lamb, or filet mignon with bernaise sauce. Reservations: (714) 720-1800.

The Westin South Coast Plaza hotel offers a number of ways to celebrate. Alfredo’s Ristorante will serve a six-course dinner with a choice of such entrees as grilled pheasant breast, sauteed filet of pompano, and grilled chateaubriand for two. The 6 p.m. seating costs $70 per person; the 8:30 p.m. seating costs $95 and includes entertainment and a midnight champagne toast. There will also be two seatings for the cafe’s New Year’s Eve buffet, a selection of soups, a seafood and salad bar, hot entrees and a carving board. Dine from 5 to 6 p.m. for $16. Or arrive at 8 and stay until after midnight for $75: There will be dancing, and each couple gets a bottle of champagne. Bristol Street and Anton Boulevard in Costa Mesa. Reservations: (714) 540-2500.

At Mr. Stox in Anaheim you’ll begin the evening with a sparkling wine toast and be eased through a five-course feast; entree choices will include mesquite grilled round of swordfish with stir-fry vegetables and creamy rosemary sauce, and roast chateaubriand with Cabernet Sauvignon shallot sauce. Dessert: creme brulee with raspberries. There will be a three-piece jazz group for listening and dancing. $50. 1105 E. Katella Ave. (714) 634-2994.

The Revere House in Santa Ana will offer dinner (pate, shrimp and crab claws, salad or soup and a choice of entrees, topped off with blueberry ice cream and creme de cassis), a split of champagne, live music and dancing for $39.50. It all starts at 9 p.m. 900 W. 1st St. (714) 543-9319.

Watercolors Restaurant in the Dana Point Resort offers two seatings: 6 to 7 p.m. or 9 to 10 p.m. At each, a four-course menu will feature such selections as Wisconsin veal chops with wild rice, grilled breast of capon in rosemary sauce with sea scallops, and filet of beef with pine nuts and roasted potato pie. Dinner includes a bottle of champagne. The first seating costs $144 per couple; the second $195 per couple (live entertainment and dancing begins at 9 p..m.). Both prices include tax and gratuity.

Meanwhile, in the resort’s Grand Ballroom, as part of the hotel’s New Year’s stay-and-celebrate packages, a four-course gourmet dinner will include medallions of veal with winter vegetables and peragourdine sauce and a choice of red or white wine, followed by dancing, live entertainment and a midnight toast. They’re calling this party “New Year’s in Neon,” and they will give a prize to the couple with the wildest neon outfit. This two-night package for two includes a Cape Cod-style guest room and costs $450 (a three-night package is $485; a four-night, $550. The four-night includes a New Year’s breakfast buffet for two). 25135 Park Lantern, Dana Point. (714) 661-5000. By the way, if you’d like to take the Amtrak rather than drive to the hotel, the resort’s complimentary shuttle will pick you up in San Juan Capistrano and return you to the depot when your stay is over.

At the Radisson Plaza Hotel across from Orange County Airport, you have four options. In the Orange Flower Bistro, partake of a full New Year’s dinner, champagne and deejay entertainment for $95 per person. In the Crystal Ballroom, attend an elaborate buffet with champagne and live entertainment for $70. Attend the Monarch Ballroom Extravaganza, a four-course gourmet sit-down dinner with entertainment and champagne for $45 per person. Or go for hors d’oeuvres, a champagne toast and entertainment in the 88 Club lounge for $30. (714) 833-9999.

Or how about New Year’s Eve on the waterfront? The new Waterfront Hilton in Huntington Beach gives you two choices for elegant dining, each with a five-hour open bar and champagne toast at midnight. In the Grand Ballroom, Elvis impersonator Pete Wilcox will perform and Big Daddy will play hits from yesterday and today. The multi-course dinner will include seafood salad, petit filet mignon with zinfandel butter, medallions of chicken with five-spice glaze, chocolate mousse torte, cheese and fruit and chocolate-covered strawberries. $125 per person. In the Pacific Room, Harry Babbit of the Kay Kaiser Orchestra will sing. The dinner menu includes appetizers, cream of wild mushroom soup, grilled chicken breast, pepper loin steak and scampi, and chocolate marquis with pistachio sauce. $150 per person. 21100 Pacific Coast Highway. Reservations: 960-SURF, Ext. 2499.

New Year’s Eve is black-tie time for overnight guests at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point where Al Martino and the Syd James orchestra will provide the entertainment. A two- or three-day package (Friday through Tuesday) includes a garden/courtyard room, a bottle of wine on arrival, the New Year’s Eve dinner/dance, a bottle of Dom Perignon at midnight and New Year’s Day brunch with entertainment by the 55-piece San Diego Youth symphony. $675 per person for three days; $575 for two days, including gratuities. 33533 Ritz-Carlton Drive. (714) 240-2000.

Antonello Ristorante’s New Year’s Eve bash encompasses dinner, live entertainment, dancing and champagne at midnight. The five-course menu includes a pasta roll filled with cheese and spinach in a light tomato sauce, and medallions of roasted veal with porcini mushrooms and truffle sauce; $89 per per couple. Antonello is in South Coast Plaza Village, Santa Ana. (714) 751-7153.

Next door, Gandhi Indian Cuisine transports you to an exotic world of belly dancers and such appetizers as lamb samosas and chicken tikka; such entrees as rogan josh (lamb medallions in curry with fresh ginger, bell pepper and tomatoes) and shrimp sauteed in clarified butter with spinach and a special sauce. Festivities start at 9:30, dinner is served at 10. $35 per person. Reservations: (714) 556-7273.

At Ruby Begonia’s in Griswold’s Hotel, Fullerton, you can dine, listen to live entertainment and dance until 1 a.m. Dinner served from 8 p.m. includes an antipasto tray, shrimp bisque, salad and a choice of lobster, prime rib, New York steak or roast duckling with honey almond sauce; the $135 includes tax and tip. For $35 more, you can stay overnight (double occupancy) and get in on the New Year’s Day breakfast. Take the Raymond Avenue Exit from the Riverside Freeway. Reservations: (714) 635-9000.

The gala party and dinner begins at 8 p.m. at Ciao Bella Ristorante & Bar in Fountain Valley. The menu will include home-made veal ravioli tossed in a porcini mushroom sauce and a choice of three entrees: Norwegian salmon with champagne sauce garnished with American caviar, roasted veal tenderloin with hot sweet Napa mustard seed sauce, and grilled loin of lamb with walnut sauce. There will be dancing to the Enzo Selvaggi Trio. $50 per person. 17272 Newhope St., in Los Caballeros Sports Village. (714) 546-7426.

At Le Midi in Newport Beach, you may enjoy either five courses (for $49) or four (for $42). The full course menu includes an appetizer of crepe with escargot or smoked salmon rolls filled with whipped cream, fresh horseradish and caviar. Entrees for both dinners include venison culets with wild chanterelle mushrooms and red wine game sauce; veal cutlets in Marsala sauce; beef tenderloin with goose liver, glazed with a red wine and Port sauce, or poached salmon with white wine dill sauce. 3421 Via Lido. (714) 675-4904.

At the Fullerton Marriott at Cal State Fullerton, $49 per couple will cover a dinner of filet mignon or Maine lobster, a bottle of champagne, and dancing from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. You may want to stop dancing at midnight, though, to be first in line when they set up the breakfast buffet ($5.95). But if you can’t stop dancin’, don’t worry: The food will be out there until half past 1. 2701 E. Nutwood Ave. (714) 738-7800.

Come to the Hotel Laguna anytime between 7 and 10 p.m. (and bring $80) and your table will be yours for the evening. A five-course dinner wil feature terrine of oak-smoked salmon with three American caviars and tournedos of beef and veal with truffle sauce, to be followed by dancing and midnight champagne. The price includes tax and tip. 425 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (714) 494-1151.

The Irvine Marriott offers a package of dinner for two with an open bar (draft beer, house wines and well drinks only), a room for the night and a “recovery buffet” the next morning; $225 per couple, including tax and gratuity. (714) 553-0100. In the hotel’s Champions Lounge, dinner will include an appetizer sampler for two; tossed Caesar salad; a choice of beef filet, lobster tail or grilled swordfish with pineapple salsa, and dessert. Seatings at 7:30, 8, 8:30 and 9 p.m. This one costs $60. (714) 975-1508. The hotel is at 18000 Von Karman Ave.

Yet another New Year’s package: At Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach, a five-course dinner, dancing, a hosted open bar, continuous live entertainment, a champagne toast at midnight and a deluxe room and a morning-after breakfast will cost $355 per room per couple, plus tax. 4500 MacArthur Blvd. (714) 476-2001.

There will be two seatings at Dover’s in the Doubletree Hotel at the City in Orange. At 6 p.m., guests can have a four-course dinner with a champagne toast for $49.95; at 9 p.m. a five-course dinner will include selected wines and champagnes from Culbertson Vineyards. That one will cost $75 (both prices include tax and tip). A five-piece swing band will play for dancing from 9 to 1 a.m. (no cover charge). 100 S. The City Drive. (714) 634-4500.

Chanteclair in Irvine has also scheduled two seatings, each with a special six-course dinner menu, each including a glass of Perrier-Jouet Champagne with dessert. The 6 p.m. dinner costs $50; the 9 p.m., which includes after-dinner dancing, is $91. 18912 MacArthur Blvd. (714) 752-8001.

Overlooking the ocean in Laguna Beach, Las Brisas will serve from an open menu and will offer deejay dancing beginning at 9 p.m. 361 Cliff Drive. (714) 497-5434.

Finally, Gustaf Anders in South Coast Plaza Village gives you the choice of a quiet dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. or “entertainment not to be believed” from 8:30 p.m. to whenever. The early seating--a four-course dinner including one bottle of champagne per couple--is $65 per person. The later seating--the restaurant promises fire eaters, magicians, jugglers, and general madness, together with the four-course dinner and one bottle of champagne per couple--costs $100 per person. Reservations: (714) 668-1737.