Is This the Best Character Dining at Disneyland? Review & Photos

There are a number of different Disneyland character dining meals available across the resort, featuring a range of different Disney characters. These meals are a great way to leisurely interact with the characters instead of having to wait in line.

I recently enjoyed one of the best Disneyland character dining meals when I sat down at Mickey's Tales of Adventure character dining at Storytellers Cafe in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. In our overall review of character dining at Disneyland, we called this the best food at any character meal. My most recent experience did not disappoint. At Mickey Visit, we are constantly at Disneyland working to bring you the most up-to-date and helpful information.

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Best Character Dining at Disneyland Review

We dined at Storyteller's Cafe for Mickey's Tales of Adventure right in between the transition from breakfast to brunch. Our reservation was for 10 am. This was good timing as we had time to still utilize Disneyland Early Entry for hotel guests and start our morning off well with time in Disney California Adventure. This might be one of the best Disneyland character dining meals in the park.

We started off our day and already pulled our first Disneyland Lightning Lane Multi Passes before sitting down (see our best Lightning Lane Multi Pass tips for Disneyland here). We had snacks in our room for a light breakfast earlier in the morning, so by 10 am, I was quite ready for the buffet.

This character dining meal is also a great choice for a non-park day, whether that's a day off from the parks or your arrival or departure day, given that you don't need theme park admission to access it. It's a great way to start off your trip or end it on a high note with a little bit of Disney magic!

Immediately upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by the characters. We had barely gotten seated when we were greeted by Mickey Mouse. Each character takes their time with each table, trying to make each moment memorable. There was plenty of time to get a photo with each character.

It felt very relaxed throughout the entire length of the meal with the characters circulating. During the meal, we saw Mickey Mouse (he is guaranteed at this breakfast because he is the namesake), Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Chip, and Dale. This is the standard lineup of characters at Mickey's Tales of Adventure.

While we always caveat that you may not get all of the characters, these are the ones who are here the majority of the time. Note that there is also a new meal featuring Donald Duck with other unique characters, too. See details on that new character dining dinner here.

Here are more of the characters in their adventure looks at this top best Disneyland character dining meal.

Food at Mickey's Tales of Adventure Meal

Turning from the characters to the food at Mickey's Tales of Adventure meal, I am happy to report that this is still the best food at any character dining meal. This plus the top-tier characters in the relaxed setting is what makes this the best character dining at Disneyland in our opinion.

The meal is built around a large buffet featuring breakfast and lunch items.

The meal costs $55 per adult, plus tax, and $33 per child (3-9), plus tax, for both breakfast and brunch here. I actually found this to be a pretty fair price.

The transition from breakfast to brunch happens at 10:30 am. This meant that during our first pass along the buffet, it was still largely the breakfast options, and then when I came back to the buffet, it had changed over to brunch. Some items were removed, and many great salads and lunch items were added.

My favorite item on the buffet was the turkey carving station. It was tender and moist. I wish this could be my Thanksgiving turkey every single year – in fact, it's one reason that our content director loves doing Thanksgiving at Disneyland.

There are also tons of great desserts. Here's a look at the different food items on the buffet. Note that the foods available here do shift around, and you should really just use these as an approximation of what will be available for an upcoming trip. The standard items will still be here, but some of the exciting additional dishes will shift around.

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Starting from the beginning, here's a walk-through of the buffet. First up was some fresh fruit and pastries.

Here's a closer look at the pastries.

And more of the fresh fruit.

And fresh berries! These were delicious.

There are also different cereal dispensers. Lucky Charms!

Next up are the yogurt and oatmeal topping options.

Next, moving into hot breakfast options. Eggs and hashbrowns.

Some breakfast meat options. Bacon and sausage.

The pastrami hash was delicious, as well as the Carnitas Chilaquiles seen here.

Next, the carving station that I already mentioned. The turkey was fantastic, and I came back.

Next, the Mickey Mouse waffles! These are delicious.

Amazingly, the buffet also had another waffle option and very good French toast.

The omelet bar was also located right there with tons of options for toppings – different vegetables, meats, and cheese. Here's my completed omelet.

From here, we went into the desserts. Yes, there are even tons of desserts with breakfast. Look at all these pastries.

Here are more pastries.

There is also soft serve flowing even in the morning. The flavors are Watermelon Sorbet and Lime Sorbet. You can also swirl them.

The final item in the breakfast was this delicious bread pudding.

They transitioned to lunch, and they brought salmon and vegetables. This is also when they brought out Mac and Cheese.

There were also delicious salads. These were good, but it was difficult to be hungry for any of these after the big breakfast portions that I couldn't resist.

You can read more about our other reviews of character dining at Disneyland in our guide (there is only one other character dining that some might consider as the best character dining at Disneyland but it is basically in another category) and our overall review of Mickey's Tales of Adventure.

Also, note that throughout the year, Mickey's Tales of Adventure shifts to be themed for seasonal offerings. During the Halloween celebration at Disneyland, it becomes an autumn-inspired dining experience, and during Christmas at Disneyland, you can enjoy the fun “Mickey’s Holiday Pajama Party Breakfast and Brunch” at this location.

There is also seasonal character dining available at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel, including a Halloween character dining experience, a holiday-themed character dining experience, and a springtime character dining meal!

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