Araminta18
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2016
Birthday Brunch!
Saturday September 18 2021 (part 1)
Saturday September 18 2021 (part 1)
The day dawned bright and early, but we weren't ropedropping so we slept in! It was my actual birthday, and we had a day planned full of yummy eating to celebrate, especially since we had no park tickets for today.
We left the room after packing up a little bit, around 10 am. I wanted to do some leisurely shopping in Downtown Disney and explore, and you know - buy all the souvenirs! - before our brunch reservation at 11ish. It was a little sad to walk through the Esplanade and not head into a park, but I couldn't be too sad, since there was a day of great eating ahead.
We wandered through the shops, buying more than we should (and exchanging some items for better sizes). I don't remember what all we got at this point, but I promise a haul at the end of this trip report! As we got to the far end, we found that they were doing a promotion for the Wonder Years reboot and we got ice cream!
Not chintzy ice cream either -- I was impressed! It was a bit close to our brunch reservation time but it's not like we could pass up free ice cream.
We meandered through a few more shops (including the Lego Store where I tried to convince Trevor he needed the giant Millenium Falcon - thank heavens he was wiser than I and said no!
Then it was time for brunch at Storyteller's Cafe! I was really excited for this one - I'd heard all sorts of good things and the character outfits looked super cute. We checked in and were waiting outside to be called in when who should walk by but my favorite princess!
She didn't stop, but she did tell me that she liked my ears, so that was nice. Happy Birthday to me!
We got seated pretty soon after that, in the little alcove to the left of the entrance area. Then it was time for food! Well actually, the waiter got us our drinks and then right as I was about to go to the buffet, the characters came out!
Since it was COVID they didn't really come and meet at every table, more like they went up and down the main walkways. I got lucky and managed to snag a few photos as they did. We also took several video clips - I spliced them together here: Characters at Storyteller's Cafe
Trevor thought he was being funny taking photos of me taking pictures with the characters. Photo-ception?
Mickey and Minnie came out with Chip and Dale but Chip and Dale didn't walk by our table this time (again, I assume COVID). But that was ok - time for food! I will say the brunch menu was a little bit confusing -- our waiter was super nice but we weren't quite sure how the buffet + a la carte options worked. So first off we just hit the buffet. It all looked so good! I was a little bit sad that the cereal milk wasn't there (we'd seen it in a couple vlogs/reviews and I was morbidly curious to try it), but otherwise it all looked delicious.
Round one for me: eggs, berry french toast, mickey waffle, croissant, bacon -- breakfast of champions!
Round one for Trevor: eggs benedict, bagel with salmon, bacon, mickey waffle....
Round two! Fruit and pastry for me.
All the food was really good. Too much good stuff and not enough stomach space! We made a pretty good dent and then ordered some dishes off the a la carte menu. The waiter was great -- we only ordered two things and then he brought us a couple extra dishes that he thought we might like. So nice.
So, we ordered the beignet bites:
These were good -- they had some kind of berry jelly in them which wasn't my favorite, but they were good.
We also ordered the Avocado Toast on Ciabatta (with Burrata, Tangerine Oil, and Micro Citrus Greens).
This was also delicious! I know avocado toast is a millenial cliche but I don't care 'cause it's delicious. Fight me. It was nice and fresh.
Then waiter-supplied bonus dishes - Shawarma Chicken Skewer with Pita Bread, Roasted Tomato, Red Onion, and Tzatziki Spread
This was interesting -- Trevor liked it more than I did, but it was still good. Just seemed a bit out of place at a brunch.
Last one - Truffle french fries!
I always think truffle will be better than it is, and I don't usually like thick cut french fries but these were cooked perfectly. Crispy and hot and just perfect.
Yea...too much food. But so good! I wish I had more stomach space - would have hit that buffet again for sure! While we were waiting for the food to settle (let's be real...hoping to see if we'd have more room for food ) Chip and Dale came around!
Tried to get Trevor in the shots this time. I was only able to get a pic with Chip though.
This was the best picture I was able to get of us with Dale. I'll take it!
Did manage to get Mickey with both me and Trevor this time!
So yea -- a great birthday brunch! Delicious food, fun characters...highly recommend. And I loved the entryway:
I really liked the decor of the whole restaurant actually. The paintings were nice and it just felt warm and welcoming and rustic. I'd love to go back for brunch again sometime!
After brunch, we strolled on through the Grand Californian lobby -- I know we just ate but I wanted to get some of their Halloween treats to take back to the room. And there was no line, so it worked out! But first, look at this Oogie Boogie display. Bonkers. So cool!
We (let's be real, me - Trevor doesn't have nearly the sweet tooth and was still too full to even look at treats) was only gonna get the Mickey-shaped Whoopie Pie but then I saw this:
Look at all those cookie shot glasses! Couldn't not get that!!!
I got it with chocolate milk - it was delicious! The glass was thicker than I thought it would be -- both Trevor and I really liked it.
And the whoopie pie! We didn't eat it right then, just took a picture.
Doesn't really look like Mickey but meh, what can you do.
After our dessert, we went back to shopping -- we decided to do the pumpkin scavenger hunt, which was fun. It was super easy, which I guess is to be expected, but it was fun to look around and find them all. We also bought a bunch more treats (macarons and cakes from Kayla's Cakes... ), cause I apparently never learn my lesson.
Eventually though we flagged and headed back to the hotel to drop our purchases and take a nap. Shopping and eating really takes it out of you! Back at the hotel we arrived at the exact wrong time when housekeeping was in our room, so we had to wait for a little bit. We actually ended up wandering around and looking around at the view, and found this...slightly disturbing Minnie and Donald. We did like this hotel for the location and the rooms were clean and comfortable but man...that theming is rooooooough.
Ok, this is a good stopping point, so gonna stop here...any guesses on our plans for dinner?
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