California Grill Brunch?

[WeLoveLilo05]

Hi everyone!
We are staying at the contemporary this year (hope I made the right choice)! We ate at California Grill last year and really enjoyed it, I think my favorite meal so far at Disney and we have eaten at many many places. We plan on dining there again this year, however I was also considering Brunch there, anyone willing to share their experience? Was it worth it? Is DDP accepted for brunch and is it 2 credits as well? Wondering what I should expect, $80 seems steep. Thanks!!!

 

[jennyq87]

We just did it in December and LOVED it! Can’t wait to do it again! Having said that, it was just my husband and I, and part of the reason we loved it so much were the bottomless mimosas, coffee/lattes, and sushi.. all things that are usually pretty pricey.. so it was easy for us to feel like we got our money’s worth. I would have a harder time justifying the price if I was just going for eggs, bacon & a few pastries.

I’m not much help with the DDP part

 

[garris3404]

Yes 2 credits on dining plan. It was a great time for us. Very relaxing, and the food was great. You can order as much as you want.

 

[happymommy]

I can't eat a lot at one sitting, but still enjoyed it last September. It was just DH and me. I liked the bottomless sparkling wine and the sushi. DH is an athlete, and can eat a lot! He had the tshakshuka (sp?) and pancakes, and I had the lobster Benedict (honestly it was kind of "meh"). It was nice, and we sat there quite a while. I wore a sundress, comfortable sandals, and a sweater (basically, it's kind of what I wear to the parks anyway), and he wore nice shorts and a polo shirt. I was surprised to see a guy in swim trunks and a tee shirt! Dress runs the whole spectrum there. I like to feel dressed nice, but do so in the parks anyway (rarely wear shorts but I feel cooler in a sundress anyway).

We did leave quite, well, buzzed! Then he convinced me to ride Space Mountain! LOL! Glad I wear bike shorts under dresses at Disney!

I'd go for it. Enjoy!

 

[FSU Girl]

Brunch is fantastic! I had bad experiences with dinner and won't go back, except for brunch. I have another booked in a few weeks. You can order as many meals as you want and the buffet food is excellent. I especially like their sushi and deviled eggs. Definitely worth going.

 

[happymommy]

Brunch is fantastic! I had bad experiences with dinner and won't go back, except for brunch. I have another booked in a few weeks. You can order as many meals as you want and the buffet food is excellent. I especially like their sushi and deviled eggs. Definitely worth going.

I also had a bad (very bad) dinner once. Brunch was good, though.

 

[skittles67]

Brunch was soooooo good! Unlimited mimosas and the buffet was delicious, I especially liked the sushi. I ordered the eggs benedict with lobster from the entree selections - very good. They brought out a tray with macarons, truffles, and mini desserts at the end of our meal. We were too full to enjoy the desserts so they boxed them up for us.
We have a Tables in Wonderland card so I don't know about the DDP.

 

[conandrob240]

Best dining experience in the World.

 

[jillt2ph]

See, it is all about what you like. I really enjoy dinner, but will never again do brunch. I am glad I experienced it once, but just not worth it for me. Other than the actual plated meals, there was not a whole lot I liked. I may have had a croissant... I wanted a simple mimosa with OJ and sparkling wine, and they just kept giving me glasses of the stuff with the boba balls in it. When I asked my server a second time, he sent a beverage person over and all he did was dump some OJ in the glass already on my table - with the boba balls in it. My server was appalled and whisked that glass away so fast! And they closed the outside deck nearest where I was sitting because of wind.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

We loved brunch! We are hoping we can get a reservation in May when we are going. I keep checking several times a day. It is definitely a lot of food, but we planned our day around that. If you are wanting a meal that is quick, this is definitely not it. We spent close to 2 1/2 hours there. I have two teen girls and they loved the choices of trying things they had not had before. The one thing we weren't impressed with
were the desserts at the end. They were okay, but could have done without.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Hi everyone!
We are staying at the contemporary this year (hope I made the right choice)! We ate at California Grill last year and really enjoyed it, I think my favorite meal so far at Disney and we have eaten at many many places. We plan on dining there again this year, however I was also considering Brunch there, anyone willing to share their experience? Was it worth it? Is DDP accepted for brunch and is it 2 credits as well? Wondering what I should expect, $80 seems steep. Thanks!!!

We've eaten at CG's brunch about 4 times. I plan arrival and departure times around it now, LOL.
We tend to bypass most of the charcuterie portion of the self serve buffet because we can get that at our hotel but thoroughly enjoy the sashimi and sushi section. And the Bloody Mary area. And and the salads and deviled eggs. There's more choices but that's what we like. Have not to date had an entree we didn't like whether lobster eggs Benedict, lamb shakshuka, pancakes, French toast or a custom omelet. Whenever the baba rhum is available in the self service area I'm on it and we generally have the cookies and chocolates boxed for later. Should we be off to a park after the meal we "force" ourselves to eat the chocolates asap, LOL.
Great meal, live music, and views, no matter where we have been sat. A meal we look forward to eating.

As far as our Contemporary visit, we enjoyed our stay there more than I anticipated. The rooms are nicely themed; loved the bathroom setup for the most part. I think my only moments of disgruntlement revolved around the terrace that was not deep enough for the height phobia in me. Our room was standard CL and overlooked the lake and pools.

 

[conandrob240]

We now plan trips around it too- lol! The “stuff with the boba balls” is amazing!

 

[Shsmith341]

It is such a great meal! My boys ages 6 & 7 love it too. We bring iPads for the kids to use after they eat so that hubby and I can relax and enjoy the extended mealtime.

 

[WaterLinds]

We have it booked for an otherwise unscheduled day before we fly home. Right now our whole group is booked but I’m pondering changing it to be a date for myself and DH—my birthday is the following day, it would be a nice treat. I’m not a seafood eater so I won’t get my momey’s worth out of the sushi but he would love it, and everything else looks great to me.

That plan leaves my mom babysitting on what is also our check out day (early flight the next day means we’re staying at an airport hotel the last night), though, so I’m not sure how those logistics will work out. I’m hoping we can get there, all your reviews are making me want to try it!

OP, just as a note—I believe the price has gone up and it’s now $96/adult instead of $80. Sure a great value on the DDP if you have it, especially when compared to some other 2 credit meals!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

We have it booked for an otherwise unscheduled day before we fly home. Right now our whole group is booked but I’m pondering changing it to be a date for myself and DH—my birthday is the following day, it would be a nice treat. I’m not a seafood eater so I won’t get my momey’s worth out of the sushi but he would love it, and everything else looks great to me.

That plan leaves my mom babysitting on what is also our check out day (early flight the next day means we’re staying at an airport hotel the last night), though, so I’m not sure how those logistics will work out. I’m hoping we can get there, all your reviews are making me want to try it!

OP, just as a note—I believe the price has gone up and it’s now $96/adult instead of $80. Sure a great value on the DDP if you have it, especially when compared to some other 2 credit meals!

I know I just loved the dinner so much that I was wondering if this was worth it.
But its not like CRT where Im just getting eggs for 2TS right? I heard people ordering "2 entrees"? If I order 2 am I charged twice? People made it sound like they did it all the time but not sure how that works on DDP?

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

We loved brunch! We are hoping we can get a reservation in May when we are going. I keep checking several times a day. It is definitely a lot of food, but we planned our day around that. If you are wanting a meal that is quick, this is definitely not it. We spent close to 2 1/2 hours there. I have two teen girls and they loved the choices of trying things they had not had before. The one thing we weren't impressed with
were the desserts at the end. They were okay, but could have done without.

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but the desserts look so good!!! LoLoL!
Macaroons look delicious!

 

[gwynne]

We loved brunch! We are hoping we can get a reservation in May when we are going. I keep checking several times a day. It is definitely a lot of food, but we planned our day around that. If you are wanting a meal that is quick, this is definitely not it. We spent close to 2 1/2 hours there. I have two teen girls and they loved the choices of trying things they had not had before. The one thing we weren't impressed with
were the desserts at the end. They were okay, but could have done without.

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The servers are more than happy to package up the dessert plate to go. We enjoyed the treats later that evening.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I know I just loved the dinner so much that I was wondering if this was worth it.
But its not like CRT where Im just getting eggs for 2TS right? I heard people ordering "2 entrees"? If I order 2 am I charged twice? People made it sound like they did it all the time but not sure how that works on DDP?

We did a split stay last summer and ate at CG's brunch during the time we were on the DDxDP. Had no problem ordering 2 entrees for my grand nephew or a plate of bacon which wasn't listed on the menu.

 

[WaterLinds]

I know I just loved the dinner so much that I was wondering if this was worth it.
But its not like CRT where Im just getting eggs for 2TS right? I heard people ordering "2 entrees"? If I order 2 am I charged twice? People made it sound like they did it all the time but not sure how that works on DDP?

It’s fixed price, you can order what you want for the one charge whether you’re paying OOP or DDP. There was one recent report from someone who said their server only allowed them to order one entree each, but this seems to have been a one-off.

We couldn’t make the math work on the dining plan, but if we had it brunch would definitely be high on my list of must dos! It’s a great value per credit at that price.

 

[gillep]

Not a fan of CG dinner at all, but we have done brunch three times and have very much enjoyed it each time. It is now our one must book reservation each trip. We certainly get value out of the meal.