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 images, 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 Lodge. Disneyland invitations company to start out 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’ll be able to select from favorites comparable to 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. It’s also possible to ask your server for delights like metal reduce oatmeal and yogurt parfaits.
Let’s begin with the great. The arrival and check-in course of was clean and shockingly quick. That is notable, as our previous experiences with Storytellers Cafe have virtually 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 referred to 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), obtained a notification that our desk was prepared. Solely a handful of individuals had been sitting within the ready space–nobody was outdoors–and we had been seated instantly.
We had 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 troublesome. It will probably additionally make images 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 discipline.
It had been some time since our final meal at Storytellers Cafe (dinner or breakfast–each of which I forgot to evaluation), so we had 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 lovely pumpkin beret!
I’m an enormous fan of the themed design at Storytellers Cafe, which is criminally under-appreciated. It comprises nods to literary legends and California tales and folklore from the Golden State, all with a heavy craftsman affect. It’s detailed, attractive, 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 implausible. Areas like this are what make the Grand Californian particular, and in a very completely different league than the opposite two motels at Disneyland.
Turning to meals on the buffet, I’m simply going to start out by sharing images 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 components: Complete Eggs or Egg Whites, and Bacon Bits, Breakfast Sausage, Unattainable 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 joyful to oblige.
This omelet was wonderful, per Sarah. Not as wonderful because it might’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; once we did Mickey’s Autumn Adventures breakfast/brunch, High Sirloin and Roasted Turkey. The Mickey waffle isn’t a part of the carving scene, though that will be fairly superior if the chef carved Mickey Mouse out of regular waffles–sorta like mop artwork, however with meals. I’ll you’ll want to submit this nice suggestion.
Each the High Sirloin and Roasted Turkey had been implausible.
The sirloin, particularly, was superb. Completely ready, tender, flavorful–simply all the pieces you can need. The creamy horseradish wasn’t crucial for taste, nevertheless it did elevate the already-excellent meat to the following degree. The turkey was likewise tasty–tender and never dry. Adequate 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–excellent stuff), however the one subsequent to it. This was additionally implausible.
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. Most likely would’ve been higher to stability between beef and salmon.
Right here’s one among Sarah’s plates. She took a really completely different method than me, which is why I used to be compelled to eat meats for 2. I had no different selection.
We subscribe to the Joey’s Philosophy on Buffets: “right here’s the place I win all my a reimbursement!” Simply our most quoted line from Mates. 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 had been each implausible within the dessert unfold, as had been the beignets. They had 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 had been recent, flavorful, and addictively scrumptious. They don’t {photograph} effectively, however they’re implausible. Apart from what you see above, I didn’t strive the rest–simply actually the identical plates of scrumptious meats again and again. Sorry, however I’m not attempting hen tenders or fries or no matter low-cost meals are on a buffet to easily verify what I already know.
One delicate disappointment was that the flatbreads seemed unambitious and underwhelming. I kinda hoped for one thing seasonal and a bit extra envelope-pushing, however these had been very primary. Talking of seasonal, there wasn’t actually something that mentioned autumn or fall harvest. A couple 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 images:
The costumes most likely communicate for themselves, however I wish to underscore simply how implausible they’re. Other than Pluto, who all the time appears to get shafted with a brand new collar or scarf, they’re implausible. Nice layer, particulars, and simply usually lovely.
Minnie Mouse, particularly, is the star of the present. Her outfit has a powerful pumpkin motif, from the beret to the buttons. Large kudos to the Disneyland costuming workforce as a result of, as soon as once more, they’ve crushed it. This shouldn’t be any shock, as they’ve achieved implausible work with the brand new Halloween and Christmas character costumes over the previous couple of years–nevertheless it’s value giving reward the place it’s due. (Partially within the hopes that maybe finally, Walt Disney World will observe go well with.) 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 completely different characters.
Interactions with the characters had 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’d add). Pluto teased his whiskers in her attain and was joyful to offer snuggles; he was additionally oddly okay along with her want to discover the within of his mouth along with her head. Chip and Dale had been good, and one of many two–plus Pluto–really paid us a number of visits. No complaints about these interactions–they had been all meaty and memorable.
With that mentioned, not one of the characters actually went above and past, for us or the tables in our common neighborhood. I really wouldn’t anticipate this with our household–we now have a small child and it’s troublesome 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 most effective interactions of the tables round us.) However I nonetheless get pleasure from watching the characters with different company, significantly these with small children, 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 endlessly to get to us. Our first two interactions occurred virtually instantly upon being seated, which is how we like character meals. The opposite characters had been all close by, and it seemed like they’d arrive shortly thereafter. However then they only vanished. One did seem out of nowhere not lengthy after, nevertheless it was practically an hour between the third and fourth characters coming to our desk.
I’m undecided if we had been by accident skipped or what, however no massive deal, that occurs. It’s occurred loads of instances at Walt Disney World, and normally what occurs is a personality attendant or supervisor comes by at a sure level and asks who we now have 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 present 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, this kind of factor does occur. And for each expertise like ours, there’s most likely a dozen-plus completely different events who noticed all the characters inside the span of half-hour. That’s nice for them!
However that is our evaluation and I can solely communicate to our expertise. That was a 2-hour lengthy marathon meal, which is loads of time to be in a restaurant with a stressed toddler. I don’t know what you recognize about infants, however they’re not usually recognized for the persistence and tolerance for sitting nonetheless for prolonged durations. Fortunately, her favourite interest is “cup” and he or she loves watching characters and folks…however we however would’ve most well-liked the meal final round an hour–possibly a bit extra.
Our greater criticism is the price. After we first booked Mickey’s Autumn Adventures, the worth was $55 per grownup (ages 10 and older) and $33 per little one (ages 3 to 9). That elevated quickly after to $65 per grownup and $36 per little one.
Even when we paid the ‘earlier than’ value, it will’ve been the costliest character breakfast we’ve ever achieved (albeit by a greenback as in comparison with the flowery Walt Disney World ones). However that whopping $10 value enhance made it the costliest by $11 per individual. 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 at the least $11 cheaper per individual. Out the door, we ended up paying over $140 for this meal after AP low cost, tax and gratuity.
Now you recognize why I felt compelled to eat a pound of prime sirloin to win our a reimbursement (mission not completed). Actually, I might’ve achieved it regardless because it was scrumptious, however I felt “stress” to in some way justify the exorbitant price of this breakfast/bunch to myself. As a lot as we love Storytellers, we might’ve achieved a baby-less date evening at Napa Rose and simply met the characters on Most important Avenue for Megatron’s sake.
I suppose I shouldn’t be tremendous shocked by the $65 price ticket. As famous, Storytellers Cafe normally has an enormous crowd outdoors within the morning and is commonly cramped and chaotic on the within. Clearly this breakfast is in excessive demand. It’s additionally situated in Disneyland’s flagship Grand Californian Lodge, which is a dear resort that seemingly has a gentle stream of well-heeled vacationers who received’t bat a watch at paying $65 a pop. Disneyland prices what the market bears, and it seems to bear a $65 breakfast.
With that mentioned, I additionally assume it’s necessary for Disney to ship an expertise that’s commensurate with price 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 isn’t a setting that’s becoming for a $65 meal. The unfold can be (at the least) a few increased high quality dishes away from justifying it.
Finally, Mickey’s Autumn Journey Breakfast and Brunch continues to be one of many higher character eating experiences wherever. Within the curiosity of stability, the meat carving station, made-to-order omelets, salmon, and a handful of different high-quality dishes do show 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 moderately than breakfast.
Maybe essentially the most pertinent portion of this evaluation–or at the least our conclusion–is that we’re conserving our ADR for Goofy’s Kitchen Celebrates Halloween, which additionally simply elevated in value 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 get pleasure from our expertise at Mickey’s Autumn Journey on stability. It wasn’t excellent, nevertheless it 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. Study on-site and off-site motels in our Anaheim Lodge Critiques & Rankings. For the place to eat, try our Disneyland Restaurant Critiques. 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 plenty of different SoCal cities!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever achieved 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 attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
