Mickey’s Autumn Adventures is Disney’s latest character eating expertise, providing a fall harvest theme and operating for the Halloween season and past, ending simply earlier than Thanksgiving. For this new breakfast and brunch, Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Chip & Dale, and Pluto sport pumpkin-infused or plaid seems to be. This eating evaluation shares meals photographs, and ideas on the delicacies & character interactions.
Let’s start with fundamentals. Mickey’s Autumn Adventures is a personality breakfast or brunch at Storytellers Cafe, a restaurant in Disney’s Grand Californian Resort. Disneyland invitations company to begin their day with Mickey Mouse and a few of his closest friends at this cozy Craftsman-style eating room, which serves as a heat and pleasant backdrop to your buffet breakfast journey.
At Mickey’s Autumn Adventures breakfast or brunch, you possibly can select from favorites resembling croissants, muffins, danishes, seasonal sliced fruits, recent berries, Mickey Waffles, Bananas Foster French Toast, pork carnitas chilaquiles, hand-carved meats, custom-made omelets and way more. You may also ask your server for delights like metal reduce oatmeal and yogurt parfaits.
Let’s begin with the nice. The arrival and check-in course of was easy and shockingly quick. That is notable, as our previous experiences with Storytellers Cafe have nearly all the time been chaotic and crowded. This character meal is notorious for being booked to capability, and having company ready within the walkway to be known as for his or her reservation. We all know this not simply from firsthand expertise, however as a result of Storytellers is in a pathway on the Grand Californian that we use steadily to enter and exit Disney California Journey, and there are all the time lots of people ready, inflicting congestion.
Not so this time. We checked in through the Disneyland app as we walked into the Grand Californian, and as we approached the restaurant (~3 minutes later), acquired a notification that our desk was prepared. Solely a handful of individuals have been sitting within the ready space–nobody was exterior–and we have been seated instantly.
We have been additionally happy to see that Storytellers was not stuffed to capability. Tables are nonetheless pretty tightly packed, which might make navigating round company and characters tough. It could possibly additionally make photographs with clear backdrops a problem, however I’ve discovered my lesson from previous meals right here and opted for a lens with shallow depth of subject.
It had been some time since our final meal at Storytellers Cafe (dinner or breakfast–each of which I forgot to evaluation), so we have been desirous to return for Mickey’s Autumn Adventures character eating expertise. Particularly Sarah, who had been anxiously awaiting the opening of ADRs and even bought an outfit for Megatron that matched Minnie Mouse–proper right down to the lovable pumpkin beret!
I’m a giant fan of the themed design at Storytellers Cafe, which is criminally under-appreciated. It incorporates nods to literary legends and California tales and folklore from the Golden State, all with a heavy craftsman affect. It’s detailed, beautiful, and kooky…and I concern it’s solely a matter of time earlier than it will get modernized as a result of somebody finds it too dated. It’s not–it’s incredible. Areas like this are what make the Grand Californian particular, and in a completely totally different league than the opposite two lodges at Disneyland.
Turning to meals on the buffet, I’m simply going to begin by sharing photographs of the unfold:
The buffet was chaotic all through our meal at Mickey’s Autumn Adventures, so I missed a few main issues.
First, there’s an omelet station the place cooks put together made-to-order omelets with the next substances: Entire Eggs or Egg Whites, and Bacon Bits, Breakfast Sausage, Inconceivable Meat, Spinach, Kale, Mushrooms, Roasted Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Onions, Cheddar Cheese, Asiago Cheese.
Above is the vegetable-centric omelet that Sarah ordered. She was even in a position to request mild oil and the chef was glad to oblige.
This omelet was glorious, per Sarah. Not as glorious because it may’ve been with a heavy serving to of meats and cheese, however she disagrees.
Talking of meats, there’s additionally a carving station that I couldn’t handle to {photograph} because it’s the preferred cease on the buffet.
The choices right here rotate; after we did Mickey’s Autumn Adventures breakfast/brunch, High Sirloin and Roasted Turkey. The Mickey waffle will not be a part of the carving scene, though that may be fairly superior if the chef carved Mickey Mouse out of regular waffles–sorta like mop artwork, however with meals. I’ll make sure to submit this nice suggestion.
Each the High Sirloin and Roasted Turkey have been incredible.
The sirloin, particularly, was wonderful. Completely ready, tender, flavorful–simply all the things you may need. The creamy horseradish wasn’t crucial for taste, but it surely did elevate the already-excellent meat to the subsequent stage. The turkey was likewise tasty–tender and never dry. Ok that I acquired it repeatedly.
The opposite chef particular of the day was salmon. Not the smoked salmon above (which was served with capers cream–superb stuff), however the one subsequent to it. This was additionally incredible.
I’m undecided what precise distinction exists between breakfast and brunch, however possibly it was this salmon? It didn’t seem till the midway level in our meal, by which level I had already had a few dozen (no joke) cuts of prime sirloin. In all probability would’ve been higher to steadiness between beef and salmon.
Right here’s one among Sarah’s plates. She took a really totally different strategy than me, which is why I used to be pressured to eat meats for 2. I had no different alternative.
We subscribe to the Joey’s Philosophy on Buffets: “right here’s the place I win all my a refund!” Simply our most quoted line from Associates. Extra precisely, I subscribe to the philosophy…Sarah likes the road. As costly as fruit has gotten, it’s not sufficient for us to win something again with the above kind of plate.
When it comes to different objects we preferred on the buffet, the French Toast and Bread Pudding have been each incredible within the dessert unfold, as have been the beignets. They have been additionally loaded with sugar, and ended up being my knock-out punch. (I’m certain the pound of beef earlier than that didn’t assist, however I used to be feeling good till dessert. Like a prizefighting aggressive eater in his prime.)
We additionally each love the chilaquiles, which had simply the fitting kick, and have been recent, flavorful, and addictively scrumptious. They don’t {photograph} effectively, however they’re incredible. Aside from what you see above, I didn’t strive anything–simply actually the identical plates of scrumptious meats time and again. Sorry, however I’m not making an attempt hen tenders or fries or no matter low-cost meals are on a buffet to easily affirm what I already know.
One gentle disappointment was that the flatbreads seemed unambitious and underwhelming. I kinda hoped for one thing seasonal and a bit extra envelope-pushing, however these have been very fundamental. Talking of seasonal, there wasn’t actually something that stated autumn or fall harvest. A number of pumpkin dishes (and even cream sauce for the french toast or bread pudding) would’ve been a pleasant contact.
Now let’s flip to characters, beginning with photographs:
The costumes in all probability converse for themselves, however I need to underscore simply how incredible they’re. Other than Pluto, who all the time appears to get shafted with a brand new collar or scarf, they’re incredible. Nice layer, particulars, and simply usually lovable.
Minnie Mouse, particularly, is the star of the present. Her outfit has a powerful pumpkin motif, from the beret to the buttons. Big kudos to the Disneyland costuming staff as a result of, as soon as once more, they’ve crushed it. This shouldn’t be any shock, as they’ve performed incredible work with the brand new Halloween and Christmas character costumes over the previous couple of years–but it surely’s value giving reward the place it’s due. (Partially within the hopes that maybe finally, Walt Disney World will observe swimsuit.) I can’t wait to see what they give you for Christmas!
It’s barely amusing to me that Chip and Dale are dressed for an precise autumn journey–possibly they’re going climbing in Yosemite? Whereas the mice seem dressed to move for an “journey” in Haight-Ashbury at a swanky espresso store. I nonetheless love all of them, it’s simply humorous what journey outfits imply to totally different characters.
Interactions with the characters have been fairly good. Most of them took time with Megatron and did one thing to catch her consideration and curiosity. Mickey gave her excessive fives and put his always-enticing nostril inside attain (purposefully, I would add). Pluto teased his whiskers in her attain and was glad to offer snuggles; he was additionally oddly okay along with her need to discover the within of his mouth along with her head. Chip and Dale have been good, and one of many two–plus Pluto–really paid us a number of visits. No complaints about these interactions–they have been all meaty and memorable.
With that stated, not one of the characters actually went above and past, for us or the tables in our basic neighborhood. I really wouldn’t anticipate this with our household–we’ve a small child and it’s tough to deviate from the tried and true interactions. All she needed was to seize noses and whiskers, anyway, so mission completed. (If something, I’d say we acquired the very best interactions of the tables round us.) However I nonetheless take pleasure in watching the characters with different company, significantly these with small youngsters, and seeing the performers do enjoyable and goofy (decrease case “g”) issues. There wasn’t a lot of that. In some instances, the characters appeared hurried.
And I do know this as a result of I used to be watching diligently, because it took the ultimate two characters eternally to get to us. Our first two interactions occurred nearly instantly upon being seated, which is how we like character meals. The opposite characters have been all close by, and it seemed like they’d arrive shortly thereafter. However then they simply vanished. One did seem out of nowhere not lengthy after, but it surely was almost an hour between the third and fourth characters coming to our desk.
I’m undecided if we have been by chance skipped or what, however no large deal, that occurs. It’s occurred loads of occasions at Walt Disney World, and often what occurs is a personality attendant or supervisor comes by at a sure level and asks who we’ve or haven’t seen. Then, these characters materialize pretty rapidly. I by no means noticed a supervisor and attendants solely appeared whereas racing round to offer 5-minute warnings to the characters.
I don’t really feel prefer it’s honest to penalize Mickey’s Autumn Adventures for this as a result of, once more, such a factor does occur. And for each expertise like ours, there’s in all probability a dozen-plus totally different events who noticed all the characters throughout the span of half-hour. That’s nice for them!
However that is our evaluation and I can solely converse to our expertise. That was a 2-hour lengthy marathon meal, which is numerous time to be in a restaurant with a stressed toddler. I don’t know what you understand about infants, however they’re not usually identified for the endurance and tolerance for sitting nonetheless for prolonged durations. Fortunately, her favourite passion is “cup” and he or she loves watching characters and other people…however we nonetheless would’ve most well-liked the meal final round an hour–possibly a bit extra.
Our larger criticism is the fee. Once we first booked Mickey’s Autumn Adventures, the worth was $55 per grownup (ages 10 and older) and $33 per youngster (ages 3 to 9). That elevated quickly after to $65 per grownup and $36 per youngster.
Even when we paid the ‘earlier than’ worth, it could’ve been the costliest character breakfast we’ve ever performed (albeit by a greenback as in comparison with the flowery Walt Disney World ones). However that whopping $10 worth improve made it the costliest by $11 per particular person. We knew the worth had gone up, so it’s not like this caught us unexpectedly–we nonetheless voluntarily selected to do the meal.
Regardless, readers of our critiques will know that I routinely complain about the price of Disney breakfast (such a piece is a staple of our character breakfast critiques), and that’s for meals which are no less than $11 cheaper per particular person. Out the door, we ended up paying over $140 for this meal after AP low cost, tax and gratuity.
Now you understand why I felt compelled to eat a pound of prime sirloin to win our a refund (mission not completed). Truthfully, I’d’ve performed it regardless because it was scrumptious, however I felt “strain” to by some means justify the exorbitant value of this breakfast/bunch to myself. As a lot as we love Storytellers, we may’ve performed a baby-less date night time at Napa Rose and simply met the characters on Essential Road for Megatron’s sake.
I suppose I shouldn’t be tremendous shocked by the $65 price ticket. As famous, Storytellers Cafe often has an enormous crowd exterior within the morning and is usually cramped and chaotic on the within. Clearly this breakfast is in excessive demand. It’s additionally situated in Disneyland’s flagship Grand Californian Resort, which is a dear resort that probably has a gentle stream of well-heeled vacationers who gained’t bat an eye fixed at paying $65 a pop. Disneyland costs what the market bears, and it seems to bear a $65 breakfast.
With that stated, I additionally assume it’s essential for Disney to ship an expertise that’s commensurate with value in an effort to meet or exceed the expectations of first-timers who are available chilly with sure expectations of a $65 breakfast. With its cramped quarters and chaotic surroundings, Storytellers merely will not be a setting that’s becoming for a $65 meal. The unfold can also be (no less than) a few larger high quality dishes away from justifying it.
Finally, Mickey’s Autumn Journey Breakfast and Brunch remains to be one of many higher character eating experiences wherever. Within the curiosity of steadiness, the meat carving station, made-to-order omelets, salmon, and a handful of different high-quality dishes do reveal consideration to element–and that this meal is extra like an early lunch (or only a common lunch…our 10:30 am ADR lasted till 12:30 pm!) with objects you’d usually discover on a dinner buffet reasonably than breakfast.
Maybe probably the most pertinent portion of this evaluation–or no less than our conclusion–is that we’re holding our ADR for Goofy’s Kitchen Celebrates Halloween, which additionally simply elevated in worth to $65 per grownup. Partially as a result of that’s for Megatron’s first birthday (how has it been a 12 months?!) but in addition as a result of we did take pleasure in our expertise at Mickey’s Autumn Journey on steadiness. It wasn’t excellent, but it surely was enjoyable–and as we’ve already discovered, time is fleeting and there’s solely so lengthy to seize these moments and recollections.
Planning a Southern California trip? For park admission offers, learn Suggestions for Saving Cash on Disneyland Tickets. Find out about on-site and off-site lodges in our Anaheim Resort Opinions & Rankings. For the place to eat, try our Disneyland Restaurant Opinions. For distinctive concepts of issues that’ll enhance your journey, try What to Pack for Disney. For complete recommendation, seek the advice of our Disneyland Trip Planning Information. Lastly, for guides past Disney, try our Southern California Itineraries for day journeys to Los Angeles, Laguna Seaside, and lots of different SoCal cities!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever performed Mickey’s Tales of Journey Breakfast at Storytellers Cafe? What concerning the particular ‘Autumn Adventures’ breakfast and brunch for Halloween/Thanksgiving? What did you consider the meal? Any standout meals from the buffet unfold? What concerning the character interactions? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation of the restaurant? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
