Storytellers Cafe Review: Is This Disneyland’s Best Character Dining?

Tucked inside Disney’s luxurious Grand Californian Resort is Storyteller’s Cafe, home to folklore, comfort food, and your favorite staple characters. This buffet-style family restaurant is one of the most popular dining spots in Disneyland and for good reason, but you might be taken aback by the price tag. So, is this worth the reservation?

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || Storytellers Cafe Sign

The Cafe is a hop, skip, and a jump away from your hotel room at the Grand Californian and from Disney’s California Adventure. This makes Storytellers one of the most convenient places to feast before or after a long day of riding rides and making memories.

During the morning, join Mickey and friends for Mickey’s Tales of Adventure Breakfast Buffet from 7:00am-10:45am. Breakfast can cost as much as $59.99 per person, and making reservations in advance is highly recommended as this experience can book up quickly.

Brunch and Dinner are also offered, but at a higher price tag; both meal times are priced at over $60.00 per adult, and, like the breakfast buffet, making reservations in advanced are encouraged to make sure you get a table. All three meal time offerings have different menus; you can find these by going to the official Disneyland Resort website. I’ll just be covering the Mickey’s Tales of Adventures Brekfast Buffet menu.

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || Buffet Bar at Storyteller’s Cafe

Once you walk through the large wooden-style doors, you are welcomed by a cast member waiting for you at the hostess stand. You receive your commemorative pin button for dining with Mickey and His friends. The hostess will show you to your table, where a server will take your drink orders, as drinks are the only thing not at the self-service bar.

Drinks consist of: Water, Coffee, Hot and Cold Tea, Juices, and Soft drinks, which are included in the buffet price. Storytellers offers specialty beverages such as craft beer, wine, and cocktails, such as Mimosas were are available at an extra charge.

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || Portion of the Dining Hall

We had two servers, a cast member who served us our drinks and another cast member, Juan, who was our main server. He continued to refill our drinks and checked on us throughout our meal to see if we needed anything. Juan was incredibly kind and funny - He made it such a special breakfast for us.

Food consisted of:

• Sliced Melons, Fruits, and Berries

• Assorted Cereal

• Assorted Breakfast Pastries

• Chef Selections of Quiche and Tarts

• Bagels, Breads, and Spreads

• Oatmeal w/ a Toppings Bar

• Scrambled Eggs

• Vustom Omlet Bar

• Hashbrowns

• Breakfast Sausage

• Applewood Smoked Bacon

• Seasonal French Toast

• Mickey Waffles w/ Maple Syrup and Strawberry Puree

During the time we were there, they also had Chilaquiles with Red Sauce and Verde Sauce available, with all the fixings, including a delicious creamy green sauce! I came for the Mickey Waffles but stayed for the Chilaquiles 🤤

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || A plate with Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Chilaquiles, Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns and Bacon

I was impressed with how delicious the food was, for being buffet-style food. They had such an array of food to try and taste that it felt less like a breakfast and more like an exciting food festival.

I’m going to expose something quite shocking. I have never had Mickey Waffles before, I know, I know you can gasp! It was honestly a huge reason why I made reservations to Storytellers because I needed my first Mickey Waffle experience to be a great one.

Mickey Waffles are a fan favorite in all the parks worldwide, so the chefs at Storytellers were continuously making fresh waffles, sprinkling the toasty batch with powdered sugar before they came out from the kitchen.

I put all the fixings on mine: Maple Syrup, Strawberry Puree, and Whipped Cream. They didn’t have butter out, which seemed really odd to me, but I was too excited to dig in that I didn’t bother asking for some.

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || Mickey Waffles

Mickey Waffles are generally Belgian-style waffles within the parks. I know that these types of waffles are supposed to have a thicker and crunchier texture, but ya’ll, these were - HARD. The inside was fluffy and soft, but I was pretty surprised at just how hard these were.

After dousing the Waffles in Syrup, we were good, but I was a little disappointed that they almost tasted overcooked. However, it isn’t going to stop me from getting them again because I am an absolute sucker for Mickey-shaped food.

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || Storytellers Cafe Button

Storytellers Cafe is a popular dining location among guests because it is a character dining location. Opting for a character dining option rather than standing in 20-30 minute lines outside to meet a character is a great alternative.

At Storytellers, you will be joined by Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Chip N’ Dale. This seemed like a pretty strange pairing, and I thought it would have been better to do the Fab 5, but I do love my chimpmunks.

Your table will be visited at least once by each character, and they will sign autograph books and take pictures with you and/or your kiddos. Storytellers wasn’t hectic at the time I had my reservation for, and each character visited our table twice, the chimpmunks returning even more - Chip really wanted my blueberries (he even asked me to put some in his vest pocket).

Courtesy of The Midnight Monorail || Mickey Mouse

Look at Mickey’s cute little satchel with patches from Paradise Falls, the Aulani, and Alaska. Disney truly does think of things that anyone else wouldn’t think of, and I love these little elements that show that Disney really does care about what they’re doing, down to the patches on Mickey’s outfit!

Our table was at a window, and as we ate, Ariel, Belle, and Tiana both walked by Storytellers making their way around the resort, which was so magical ✨ I’m so used to seeing the characters just in the parks and of course, dining locations that seeing the princesses casually out for a morning stroll caught me off guard.

If you love meeting characters or have a little one who loves getting hugs and autographs, they will absolutely love this! The characters spent so much time with everyone, and they were interactive - the only complaint I have, which isn’t even a complaint, just a wish, is that I would have loved for Chip N’ Dale to come to tables together. They play off of each other so well, and I think it makes the interaction with them that much more fun. I would have loved to see Donald, Goofy, and maybe an appearance from Clarabelle, too!

So, all in all, is Storytellers Cafe worth it? Yes! I’d go as far as to say the food at Storytellers is absolutely some of the best in the park. Every dish I tried was so good, and it didn’t taste like it was just quickly and sploppily made. The food mixed with the cozy and woodland atmosphere and add some beloved characters in the mix? 10/10!

I would for sure go to Storytellers again simply for the breakfast spread - I don’t even think I would need to try the brunch and dinner because their menu of food was that good and their options that wide.

The warm woods tone, soft lighting, and wide kitchen space makes this place a must-do at least once during your Disney stay! It’s worth the price and leaves beautiful memories in your camera roll and your stomach.