“Sipping on Christmas tea is like savoring the essence of the season, with each sip bringing joy and tranquility.” – Unknown

The last time the Disneyland Resort hosted Afternoon Tea was in 2019 with the Haunted Mansion Tea. Sadly, Steakhouse 55 (where the Resort hosted all of their themed Afternoon Tea) closed in 2021 after the COVID pandemic. My friends and I got a tiny taste of Afternoon Tea during Princess Nite in March 2023. That limited time offering was pretty decent, considering it was an extremely limited 2-night experience and you could only go if you had a ticket to the event. So, I was absolutely foaming at the mouth when the Resort announced Holiday Tea with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

I was expecting the booking experience to be the usual process for making limited time dining reservations at Disneyland nowadays. This involves having the App open on your phone at the precise time when reservations open and refreshing to see if the date you want becomes available. I was happily surprised that I managed to easily secure a reservation on Wednesday, December 18th. The only disappointing thing about the availability was the reservations were only for December. Specifically, they were limited from December 3rd to 24th. The reservations were also only available during the weekdays.

Holiday Tea with Santa and Mrs. Claus was at the Hearthstone Lounge at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa located right off the main lobby. We checked in for our reservation about 15 minutes beforehand, as suggested on our reservation. While we waited to be seated, we popped into Acorns Gifts & Goods for some shopping.

Our hostess greeted us with these beautiful keepsake menus and showed us to our table. The Hearthstone Lounge is on the smaller side seating-wise. But it has beautiful grandiose ceilings and architecture to make it seem bigger.

Our table settings were very cute!

Pricing for the different Tea options was what you would expect:

• Classic for $84
• Deluxe for $124 (included a Choice of a Glass of Laurent-Perrier ‘La Cuvée’ Champagne or Tea-Infused Cocktail and an addition of Fresh Strawberries with Chantilly Cream for the Dessert course)
• Premium for $445 for two (included a Bottle of Laurent-Perrier ‘La Cuvée’ Rose Champagne and an addition of Fresh Strawberries with Chantilly Cream for the Dessert course)
• Children for $44

Our scones were brought out first along with our Tea choice. There were tons of teas to choose from. I decided to go with Peppermint. It was an excellent choice! We each received our own personal teapots. We were provided with a tray of sugar sticks, sugar cubes, jars of honey, and milk. This allowed us to add anything we wished to our tea selections.

The two flavors of the scones were Cranberry-Orange and Cinnamon. They were, of course, served with Devonshire Cream and Citrus Curd. The sugar crystals on the scones complimented the cranberry orange combination. I was slightly disappointed that the cinnamon scone lacked some flavor. It was still a nice start to the tea. Both scones were flaky and fluffy with the right amount of crunch.

Our tea sandwiches took up 2 tiers of our serving platter. All of the desserts were on the bottom tier. Our sandwiches for this tea were varied and delicious. We had a Caprese Salad on Rye with Pesto Aioli. There was also a Shrimp Salad with Red Kosho and Caviar. Another offering was Prime Holstein with Caramelized Onion and Pickle Mousse. We also enjoyed a Truffled Christmas Egg.

Caprese Salad on Rye with Pesto Aioli: I love a good Caprese salad sandwich. This little gem was a nice burst of flavor. The tomatoes were light and crisp and the mozzarella was velvety smooth and creamy. I felt that the pesto aioli was nonexistent. I’m a sauce girlie and definitely wanted more of it on. I think it would have added a nice layer of kick to the bites. The layering of the tomato and mozzarella to mimic the stripes of a candy cane was very cute!

Prime Holstein with Caramelized Onion and Pickle Mousse: The presentation looked like a wrapped present. It was the fanciest of all the sandwiches. The bread was nice and toasted so there was a good crunch to it without being dried out. The meat was super tender and the pickle mousse was surprisingly good! The pickle flavors were really poignant and I could definitely eat a full-sized version of this sandwich.

Truffled Christmas Egg: The egg was dyed red. This made for a nice pop of color. However, I wasn’t too keen on the coloring spreading all over my fingers while eating. The mushrooms were minimal but they added an interesting texture and a woodsy taste to each bite. The yolk mixture was nice and fluffy.

Shrimp Salad with Red Kosho and Caviar: This sandwich was nice and crunchy with big chucks of shrimp and celery. This sandwich was messy and fell apart pretty easily but it was still very flavorful. The edible flowers on top were a nice touch. The green bread on the bottom added a lot of fun colors to this bite.

Our desserts were heavy on Christmas flavors. It is my personal opinion that all Christmas desserts should be rich in festive tastes. We had a Citrus Pistachio Frangipane. There was also a Peppermint Mickey Tart and a Double Chocolate Crémeaux. Finally, a Crunchy Gingerbread Cream Puff completed the selection.

Citrus Pistachio Frangipane: This was very moist and savory cake with chucks of pistachio inside. The thick icing added a touch of sweetness that complimented the pistachio flavors. It was decorated very festively with the red and green sprinkles!

Double Chocolate Crémeaux: The chocolate mousse was nice and fluffy. The chocolate holly piece was a nice bite as well. The creaminess of the mousse paired well with slight crunch of the pastry puff.

Peppermint Mickey Tart: Who doesn’t love when you have a Mickey-shaped dessert? This one was all of your classic Christmas flavors rolled into one. The peppermint mousse had just enough of the flavoring but wasn’t too overpowering and very creamy. The tart itself was crumbly when you bit into it. It was still solid enough for a good bite that didn’t fall apart into a mess.

Crunchy Gingerbread Cream Puff: This one was my favorite! The cute little gingerbread man chocolate motif was adorable. The cream inside was heavy on the gingerbread, almost like biting into a fresh gingerbread cookie. This was a great palate cleanser to end the meal.

We were given to-go cups since we wanted to bring our tea with us, and peppermint sticks as well. 3 hours of Valet Parking at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel was included with our reservation. Valet Parking is always a fun experience. I enjoy it whenever I get the opportunity to use it. The Valet Cast Members are fantastic.

Santa & Mrs. Claus were seated by the fireplace for photos. Our reservation included free PhotoPass photos with them. Santa and Mrs. Claus even signed our menus! Each table in the restaurant was given plenty of time to converse and interact with them. Before we were served our Tea selections and sandwiches, everyone in the room received a set of hand bells. The whole room then joined together to sing Jingle Bells. It was so much fun!

Overall, it was another lovely tea experience and a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season! I do hope that the Disneyland Resort brings this tea offering back next year. As always, I am still keen on the idea that they reintroduce new Afternoon Tea experiences to their daily rotation!