If you enter Paradise Pier hotel from Disneyland Drive, walk past the giant Goofy with a surfboard statue, and take a right, you’ll walk past Surfside Lounge, and end up at the PCH Grill where you’ll experience Surfs Up! Breakfast with Mickey and Friends. If you arrive before the 7am opening like us, the doors will be closed but you will see the check in desk and a large menu.
While we waited for the restaurant to open, we occupied ourselves by getting a pressed penny and using the restroom to the left of Surfs Up! While not overdone, the restrooms were beach themed, with light blue and tan tile and paint. Just a few minutes before 7am, a cast member arrived to check us in for our 7am reservation. The breakfast was $33 plus tax and an automatic 15% tip, but unlike Goofy’s Kitchen, you do not pay the bill at Surfs Up! until after your meal.
Shortly after checking-in, we were brought into the dining room and got our picture taken with Mickey. This is the only place that I know of where you can get your picture with Mickey dressed in such an adorable life guard outfit. In addition to Mickey’s outfit, the background was nicely themed to the beach and added to the atmosphere of the restaurant.
We were shown to our table and Minnie, also in an adorable lifeguard outfit, was roaming our area and took a picture with us. The wait staff around was happy to help us get a picture together. We were on our way to the buffet when Stitch also came out to wander around. We got our picture with him too.
We filled our plates. It was pretty basic buffet food with some more Tex-Mex inspired dishes mixed in. The scrambled eggs were just okay. The Minnie pancakes here were better than at Goofy’s Kitchen and had a little fluff to them here. There was also some good fresh fruit here; I especially enjoyed the watermelon. On our way back to our seats I saw Stitch playing hide and seek and making funny gestures at people getting their pictures taken with Mickey. This was fun to watch.
Shortly after we started eating, at about 7:15am, Mickey, Minnie, and Stitch started dancing to a selection of songs played over the speakers, including Surfin’ USA, in the area near the front entrance where photos with Mickey are taken. A few kids got up and danced with them and it was really fun to watch, especially Stitch shaking it. I had to get out of my seat to really see it, but it was totally worth it.
After this I thought we had seen all the characters and I was finishing my breakfast when Daisy appeared in a cute summer dress. She started at the other side of the small restaurant but made her way to our table for a photo before we left. Pluto also showed up with a starfish hanging from his collar but he also started from the other side of the restaurant so we decided not to wait for him.
Instead we left having after having a great time “hanging ten” with Mickey and the gang. It was only about 7:35am. I was quite impressed with all the characters we saw and the breakfast we had in a short time. We even got cool buttons. While I think the overall theming of PCH grill could be improved from mostly general bold colors and shapes to a more Pacific Coast specific theme, I greatly enjoyed this Surfs Up! breakfast with Mickey and friends.
