When the Disneyland Resort announced the launch of the Classic Afternoon Tea at Steakhouse 55, I knew I had to make a reservation immediately for this special event (so I could channel my inner ‘Downton Abbey’ fan-girl).  For Guests that have never dined at Steakhouse 55 before, the restaurant is located right next door to Goofy’s Kitchen inside the Disneyland Hotel.  I invited two friends to accompany me for this afternoon tea experience, which is hosted from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.  I had a reservation for 12:45pm and we promptly checked in and the hostess escorted us to the middle of Steakhouse 55.

If you’re curious about the dress code, my friends and I decided to make it a dress-up event, but we saw many people in casual wear as well.  Some came in fascinators and large hats, and others came wearing t-shirts and shorts – it is the Disneyland Resort after all.

The Restaurant

The lighting was much brighter than dinner service is at Steakhouse 55 and there was great classical music playing to set the mood.  I love the old pictures of Walt Disney entertaining guests throughout the restaurant.

The Tea Party Selection

Upon entrance, fancy china was set out on our tables.  Our amazing server Ashley walked us through the menu and gave us a brief rundown of the options.  She was fantastic and if anyone goes to the Classic Afternoon Tea, try to request her! She let us know that we could have unlimited tea with all of the options, and you could have them either iced or hot.  For the sandwiches, each one can be substituted for other options on the menu. Due to allergies and food preferences, my friends swapped out their cucumber and salmon sandwiches, and opted for peanut butter and jelly and ham and cheese (sandwiches offered on the kid’s menu!).

The tea party selections are as follows:

• Classic Afternoon Tea ($50) –  Traditional scones, tea sandwiches, desserts
• Premium Afternoon Tea ($65) – Sparkling wine, Traditional scones, Salad, Tea Sandwiches, Dessert, and Farewell Truffles
• Kid’s Tea Party ($35) – Chocolate Chip scones, tea sandwiches, desserts

Tea Party Options

Ashley also let us know that we were allowed to order the Kid’s Tea Party, if we were so inclined, and that we didn’t have to order the same level of tea party.  I opted for the Premium tea party along with my friend, while her sister ordered the Classic Tea Party.  Since the three of us were eyeing the same three teas from the tea menu, we decided to start with those three pots of tea: White Tip Darjeeling, Redbush Caramel Velvet, and Chakra Silver Tips.

Classic Afternoon Tea Menu

For my friend Monica and myself, we began our Classic Afternoon tea with a glass of sparkling wine, a nice refreshing start to the meal but certainly one that felt a bit indulgent considering I hadn’t had anything to eat yet!  Then our servers brought out our three teapots and multiple teacups so we could sample each one.  We were given a small plate with lemon wedges, honey, and a small carafe of milk so we could mix and match and play up the tea’s flavor profiles as well.  How fun!

As we enjoyed our first taste of teas, the two of us that ordered the Premium tea party got a delicious and refreshing salad with baby gem lettuce and a Green Goddess salad dressing.  It does come with slices of oranges, radishes and tomatoes.  I had Ashley add some freshly cracked pepper to mine.

Then, our scones, sandwiches, and desserts came out on tiered plates.  Since we had an odd number of people at the table, my items were grouped with my friend Eileen’s.  Look how delicious the tiers look!  I really loved that Monica’s PB&J came Mickey-shaped.

Here’s a close-up of the sandwiches that I selected for my meal!  I decided not to substitute any of the offerings and tried the tea party exactly as-is.

Counter-clockwise: Cucumber & Watercress, Salmon Gravalax, Heirloom Tomato & Mozarella, and Cage Free Deviled Egg

While the offerings on the tiers don’t look like a lot of food, I started to feel full from drinking pots of tea and eating scones and sandwiches.  We decided to order one more pot of tea but realized that we had only tried 4 of the 10 different teas that were available and we were already happy with our selections.  We were feeling quite full at this point, and we decided to get iced green tea to cleanse our palates.  Our server Ashley was able to bring us boxes to take home any leftovers from the tea party and you can request to-go cups to take any leftover tea with you.  For the premium tea partiers, we were given a farewell truffle in a beautiful box that wasn’t Disneyland-themed, but rather from CHOCXO, a local bean-to-bar shop located in nearby Costa Mesa.  It’s actually refreshing for me to see Disneyland support a local business.  I took home a box with Sea Salt Caramel and Sea Salt Hazelnut truffles, while Monica took home the Tahitian Vanilla.

This Classic Afternoon Tea was a really fun experience with close friends and delicious food and scones. I saw many women celebrating in groups and I think this would be a great outing for a special occasion.

I was able to use by Annual Pass to get a discount off the total cost of the tea party as well, which is a nice bonus.  Overall, I really enjoyed the Classic Afternoon Tea at Steakhouse 55.  Or shall I say, I didn’t give it two thumbs up, but definitely one pinkie finger up!

For those who think that the price might be fairly steep for afternoon tea, I want to offer up a few afternoon teas for comparison:

• Wolfgang Puck at the Hotel Bel-Air ($60)
• Victoria Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont (~$50 in peak season)
• The famous Champagne afternoon tea at the Ritz, London (~£66.00 or $91)

As you can see, there are many teas that will be more or less affordable than this, but you can always count on fantastic Disney-level service and there’s something fun about your food coming in Mickey shapes, especially as a Disney fan.

Will you be planning a visit to Classic Afternoon Tea at The Disneyland Hotel?