We had to take a trip to southern California so that was my excuse to book some character meals at the Disneyland resort. (I will use any excuse to make a reservation and enjoy Mickey waffles and hang out with some characters.)
We have been to all of them but two of the character meals have recently revamped. Storytellers and PCH Grill have changed slightly. Storytellers Café used to be Chip ‘N Dales Critter Breakfast but is now Mickey’s Tales of Adventure Breakfast Buffet. This restaurant is located in the Grand California Hotel and has a rustic forest theme. The last time we were here it was very quiet, with only a few other people seated in the section where we were seated — which could be why they made changes in order to draw more people to this location.
We stayed near by and walked over from our hotel, and as we were entering the hotel grounds there were two cast members asking to see room keys for the guests staying at the location. I told them we were here for the breakfast, and they asked to see the reservation confirmation. We were running late (five minutes late, whoops), the phone was slow, so they waved us in. Next time around, I’ll have the email open or the confirmation printed out on paper.
We arrived about eight minutes late, and we were seated within five minutes of checking in — which was super nice since we were all hungry and ready to chow down on some Mickey waffles.
One of the big reasons we love to travel Disney is because I have to be gluten-free; I have a bunch of reactions that I get when I eat gluten which include migraines, tummy troubles and itchiness. Disney is particularly accommodating to people with food allergies and sensitives, and I always feel taken care of and have as great of a time as those who can eat anything they want.
Once we were seated E took off to get her some bacon and other goodies, she did give me a drink order before she dropped her stuff to go get her “pound of bacon.” This has become the normal since I have to wait for the chef to come and talk to me. I put in the drink orders and was super surprised to find that our server Brett was VERY knowledgeable on the buffet and options, and was able to go over everything with me before putting in my order of Mickey waffles and pancakes. It was so nice to not have to wait for the chef to come out and have to watch everyone around me eat while I waited.
The food was yummy and there was a good selection. They had gluten free Mickey waffles and pancakes. You do have to wait a few minutes for them to be cooked fresh in kitchen. They are severed with a side of syrup and have a allergy flag stuck in them. They also had eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit and a build your own omelet station that are all allergy friendly.
Some of the other items they had on the buffet include sausage, boxes of cereal, apple cinnamon Mickey waffles, yogurt with berries and granola, Pluto’s coco Krispy milk and an assortment of muffins and pastries.
E tired the coco milk and it was funny watching her reaction to drinking it. It is served in a plastic bag with a straw sticking out. After tasting it I could tell she did not enjoy it, she said it tasted like the put coco powder and milk in the bag but didn’t mix it together.
The characters we saw when we were there were Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip, Dale and Pluto.
Mickey looked cute in his adventure outfit but didn’t spend much time interacting with us.
He signed the autograph book, took a few photos, gave hugs and went on his way.
Minnie in her adventure outfit was adorable complete with a butterfly on her hat. She had plenty of personality, seized upon the Minnie LEGO mini-figure E showed here – even trying to balance it on her nose. (A noble effort, but no dice on that balancing act.)
She tried to take a bite of the waffle ears we had, and Minnie even appeared as though she was going to take them to the back for a snack. It was super cute and E loved the interaction with her.
When Chip showed up he went right to trying to eat the waffle ears. It was super funny and we all loved the interacti0on with him. He was even great with letting E check out all the badges that he had on his vest and hat. (I’m not sure where he goes to summer camp, but he even earned the s’mores badge!)
Dale also enjoyed the waffle ears and into making a lot of mischief. It was funny watching him turn every which way to show off the badges he had. At one point one of the cast members was refilling the button basket and he couldn’t walk by with out knocking them onto the floor.
Pluto was wonderful. He had his adventure scarf on that has a compass attached to it. E loves to scratch Pluto’s ears and get his leg shacking. It is always a joy to watch these interactions between the characters and E.
At the end of the meal we had a wonderful time and left super full and ready to do some shopping in Downtown Disney. We definitely will return to this meal in the future when we feel like mixing it up and not going to Goofy’s Kitchen – which still remains our number one choice for character meals in Disneyland.
Quick Facts ‘n Figures
- Breakfast: $39 adults (and children 10+), $23 children (ages 3-9) (as of August 2018)
- Gratuity NOT automatically included
- NO PhotoPass services offered
- OVERALL – 3 1/2 Mickeys (on a scale of 1-5)
- Food
- Selection: 3 Mickeys
- Yumminess: 3 Mickeys
- Characters
- Frequency: 4 Mickeys
- Variety: 3 Mickeys
- Ambiance
- Service: 5 Mickeys (Brett and his lunch-break alternate were AWESOME)
- Theme: 4 1/2 Mickeys
- Food