We always try and make at least one reservation at a new-to-us restaurant on every trip – we had multiple on this trip, but one of them was Storyteller’s Cafe located in the Grand Californian Hotel.

This restaurant offers a character breakfast Monday-Friday, a character brunch on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays, an a-la-carte lunch and an a-la-carts/buffet hybrid at dinner (no characters). We booked the Sunday character brunch for the day of the Avengers Half-Marathon, I figured Luke would have worked up quite an appetite after running for 21km.

I also made a reservation late enough that Luke had time to go back to our hotel, have a shower and change into clean clothes before going to eat. Also, since he was feeling a bit sore (rightfully so!), we took an Uber to the Grand.

We checked in, and that place was slammed! It was a long weekend with a runDisney event happening, so it wasn’t all that surprising when we were told they were running behind a bit. We found a bench outside and sat down to wait. There were two little boys with remote control cars, their parents were sitting on the bench directly across from us. The younger boy, I’d guess him to be about 4 years old, thought it was hilarious when he drove his little car under the gate by the pool we were close to, but then of course had a huge meltdown when he couldn’t figure out how to drive it back under the gate to where he was. You can’t just open the gate either, you must be staying in the hotel and use your room card to open it, so I couldn’t offer any assistance . The older brother, maybe 6 or 7 years old, grabbed the controller from his younger brother and was trying to drive the car back under the gate, but it kept getting stuck. Eventually, someone who was in the pool area came over and opened the gate so the boys could go grab the car. Watching this made the time pass by quickly, and about 20 minutes after sitting down on the bench,  our names were called.

This restaurant is really gorgeous – high ceilings in the centre by the buffet, and lots of wood.

Even the floor leading to the main check-in counter is beautiful:

The carpet also ties in to the theming of the restaurant:

The buffet area was quite large here:

I took buffet pictures as we were leaving, since the crowd was gone by that point and I wasn’t interfering with anyone or holding anyone up just so I could get good pics for my blog haha. The food wasn’t as well signed as it is at other buffets, so I’ll do my best at remembering what everything was…

Bread pudding with vanilla sauce

Uhh…Cereal.

Mini cupcakes – I believe they were red velvet?

Various salads of death.

Charred corn chowder with various toppings – bacon, green onions, etc

Bacon, tater tots (or “potato barrels” at some Disney restaurants haha), and hash brown casserole

Salmon, rice pilaf

Butter, yogurt, etc.

Smoked salmon, onions, lemons, etc

Very picked over fruit platter. Just imagine it being full…

Mickey waffles, pancakes, French toast

Chilaquiles And eggs Benedict

Cinnamon buns, assorted pastries

Mini muffins

Make your own omelet station

Chicken and… something? 

My first plate, from the top and going clockwise: bacon, rice pilaf, chicken, casear salad, watermelon, grapes, tater tots, hash brown casserole(?).

For some reason, I really wasn’t very hungry and filled half my plate with salad and fruit – that’s just not typical for me haha. Everything was good that I tried though.

Luke’s first plate, starting at the top and going clockwise: chicken, mini cupcake, key lime tart (they must have been all gone by the time I took pictures of the buffet at the end of our meal), breakfast sausage, smoked salmon, pineapple slices, hash brown casserole, tater tots, bacon and scrambled eggs.

He also grabbed a bowl of their Nebraska charred corn chowder

My second plate was a little bit of bread pudding and half a plate full of caesar salad – not a great idea.

I really liked their caesar dressing, it tasted homemade – which meant it was very rich. Apparently my stomach couldn’t handle that much salad/rich dressing, and I ended up throwing all of this up about an hour later…

Luke’s second plate: scrambled eggs, eggs benedict and that red mess was a Mickey waffle with raspberry or strawberry sauce.

This was also a character brunch, so of course we met some characters – Pluto, Chip, Dale and Kenai from Brother Bear.

As with all character meals at Disneyland, we received pins specific to that location. I love that they do this here, it’s such a great little keepsake.

This brunch cost $39 each, but I saved 15% with my annual pass so our total bill came to $71.44 with tax. I wasn’t very hungry, and the  food I did eat I ended up throwing up, but I still want to return here again one day. I don’t blame the restaurant or Disney for me being sick, my stomach just couldn’t handle that much of the rich salad dressing. Luke really enjoyed his meal here, and he felt perfectly fine afterwards.