Storytellers Cafe: Our Full Review!
Last Updated on May 21, 2025 by Kelly
If you’re planning a trip to Disneyland, I highly recommend booking a character dining experience. There are several restaurants on Disney property that offer character dining, and one of our favorites is Storytellers Cafe! Located at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, this buffet has excellent food offerings and lots of classic characters! We have dined there several times, and I’m sharing our full review in this post. If you’re curious about the food offerings, scroll down to my photo gallery because I include LOTS of pictures! I tried to snap a photo of everything so that my readers would have a good sense of what was available. Enjoy!
Tip: I recommend booking a reservation for a day when you don’t have theme park tickets. Because the restaurant is located at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, you don’t need park tickets to dine here. I prefer to schedule it on a non-park day to make the Disney “magic” last a little longer. We typically make reservations on either the day we arrive or the day we depart from California.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Important Information
There are three different dining options available:
- Mickey’s Tales of Adventure Breakfast Buffet
- Mickey’s Tales of Adventure Brunch Buffet
- Donald’s Tales of Adventure Dinner Buffet
Tip: If you schedule a late breakfast, you can eat from the breakfast menu and the brunch menu (which includes some lunch offerings).
The theme of the restaurant is based on California folklore and storyteller. The restaurant has a craftsman architectural style, and the murals on the wall depict Native Americans, early Californian settlers, and pioneers.
Note: Your entire party must be present before you are seated.
Our Experience
I’ve been to Storytellers Cafe on several occasions over the years, and each time it’s been a trip highlight. Most recently, we visited with our two daughters. We were excited to show them a character dining experience!
When we arrived, we were greeted at the front desk and there was a basket of complimentary pins to commemorate our visit. We didn’t need to wait long for our table, which was much different in comparison to our experience at Goofy’s Kitchen.
The highlight of the meal was of course the characters. We were at the restaurant for about 1.5 hours, and we found that the characters came by several times. They took their time with us, and we never felt rushed. Each character was happy to interact with us and take photos. I accidentally bumped into Mickey, and he comically fell to the ground… my daughters laughed so hard at his antics! He was wearing a pouch, and my oldest daughter began guessing what he might have inside of it. When she guessed “a bag full of Mickey waffles!”, he threw up his arms in happiness and then made a “shhh” motion to keep it a secret. Our family was delighted to spend so much time with each of the characters.
After the characters made their way around the restaurant, they went to the front of the buffet and did a coordinated dance. Definitely don’t miss that! We couldn’t see it from our table location, so we had to move to the front of the restaurant to be able to see it.
In terms of the food, we were very happy with the offerings. We dined during in the morning, and some of our favorite dishes were the bread pudding with vanilla sauce, Mickey waffles, french toast (I think a bananas foster version?), and the chilaquiles.
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The Buffet
We tried so many different dishes! While I cannot capture everything that was served, I thought it would be helpful to give you an idea of the types of things that were offered during our visit:
- Lots of fresh fruit
- A variety of pastries
- Toast and bagels
- Bacon and sausage
- Chilaquiles
- Mickey waffles
- French toast
- A variety of desserts (at least a half dozen!)
- Yogurt station with toppings
- Breakfast vegetables
- Omelet station
- Smoked salmon and lox
- Sorbet station with toppings
- Hashbrowns
- Frittatas
- Oatmeal station with toppings
If you have allergies or food preferences (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free), we’ve read that the chef will often custom make dishes for you.
Scroll down below for lots of photos of the buffet!
Characters
The characters you see will depend on which meal time you select. If you are determined to see a certain character, carefully review the time slot to make sure the character you want to meet will be there. During the breakfast and brunch options, you’re likely to meet Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip & Dale, and Pluto. During the dinner option, you’re likely to see Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Clarabelle, Goofy, and Pluto.
If you have children, check out our review of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disneyland! We share what it was like to book this magical transformation! Also be sure to get your Disney gear in advance of your trip, like this super cute Loungefly backpack!
Reservations
Storytellers Cafe is a popular restaurant and can sell out, so we recommend making advance reservations. You can make reservations on the restaurant’s website or via the Disneyland App.
You can make a reservation up to 60 days prior to your selected date. We recommend setting a reminder on your calendar so you can get that reservation booked as soon as you’re eligible!
There are some same-day reservations available, so don’t give up if you couldn’t get a reservation earlier. We also noticed that more reservations opened up the day or two before our date of arrival, perhaps due to last-minute guest cancellations.
Pricing
We paid $55 per adult and $33 per child over 3 years old. Our toddler dined free!
The price covers the food in the buffet and select beverages such as tea, coffee, juices, and soft drinks. If you’d like an espresso or alcoholic drink, those are an additional fee. I didn’t order a cocktail, but I noticed they were expensive. For example, it was $25 for a bloody mary. (There’s a limit of two alcoholic beverages per guest per transaction.)
The character dining experiences can be expensive. If possible, we recommend asking for Disney gift cards for birthdays and holidays. By the time we arrived at Disney, we had amassed a small fortune in Disney gift cards! We used them for dining experiences such as this one.
Be sure to check out post where we share our favorite food items at Disneyland!
Photos of the Food
I wanted to specifically share lots of photos of the buffet. Although dishes are subject to change, I find it helpful to get a general idea of what to expect. If you have a picky eater in your party, it can also be helpful to see if there’s anything they’d like as well.
Tips
- Book reservations in advance
- Be sure to grab the button pin when you check-in
- Make sure your whole group is present in order to be seated
- Let your server know if there are any allergies or dietary preferences
- Let your server know if you are celebrating a birthday or special event
- We booked our reservation for late morning, and when we left the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised to see many of the princesses walking through the hotel lobby on their way to the princess buffet! We saw Aurora, Ariel, Mulan, Pocahontas, and more!
- Don’t miss the character dance at the front of the restaurant
- Use hand sanitizer after touching shared utensils at the buffet
- If you are visiting Disneyland during a holiday, check to see if Storytellers Cafe is offering a special character meal. In the past, there have been special holiday meals for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and others. The characters might be dressed up in special outfits, or there may be specially-themed cocktails and dishes on the menu!
Our Summary: Is It Worth It?
For us, adding at least one character meal during a Disney trip is always worth it. If you have children in your party, this can really be a priceless experience. They’ll get lots of time with the characters, and it never feels “rushed” to us. The buffet makes it easy to please everyone, and it’s nice that the food is ready immediately upon being seated. We definitely recommend adding this experience to your trip!
Disclaimer: We always strive for content accuracy. Since the time of publishing, travel-related information regarding pricing, schedules, and hours may have changed. Please look up such information directly from each vendor or institution for the most current information.
