Great Maple is a table-service restaurant inside of Disneyland Resort’s Pixar Place Hotel. The restaurant has 3 other locations in Southern California, all of them offering American comfort food that specializes in brunch. Great Maple (at Pixar Place Hotel) does offer a Magic Key and DVC discount. In this post, we’ll review Great Maple’s food, atmosphere and value!

On Great Maple’s website they describe the restaurant as “A Modern American Eatery” and it’s hard to argue with that. Whether it’s the continuation of the brunch craze or the sleek design, Great Maple fits the idea of an elevated American diner, while also feeling Californian. There’s an emphasis on fresh ingredients while combing through the menu and website. With those qualities, it makes this outsourced restaurant in a Disney hotel fit in… For the most part.

I do find it a little peculiar that this is the spot where Disney chose to have a non-Disney restaurant inside of one of their hotels. As far as I can tell, this is the first time that’s ever happened domestically. I won’t bore you with a deep discussion on why (I think) they went with that approach but the choice does lend itself to questions of how the restaurant will fit in.

To combat those questions, there seem to be some compromises on both sides. Throughout Great Maple, there are some black and white portraits of Pixar characters. For being something Disney, the portraits are pretty subtle. You might not even notice them depending on where you’re sitting. I haven’t decided if the portraits are supposed to be funny but I think they are. Showing animated characters in a still black and white photo is hilarious and no one can convince me otherwise!

Outside of that little Pixar touch, Great Maple looks like all of their other locations – sleek and modern. The booths throughout are a deep green that look pretty striking against the white and wood tones. There are pops of gold around too. I like how spacious this area is, as it avoids any pitfalls of being a hotel restaurant.

The downside is that the modernity and shiny design rob the restaurant of much character. This is far from Napa Rose or even Storytellers Cafe. It’s not that Great Maple is ugly, I actually like how it looks for the most part, but more that it does feel overly generic. For some that’s not going to matter at all. Heck, others might even appreciate eating in that kind of setting after the overstimulation of a theme park day. But, there is far less theme here than most restaurants in a Disney owned hotel.

Moving on to the food, here’s a look at the menu! We’ve only eaten dinner at the restaurant but they do serve brunch all day so that doesn’t matter as much. There are no prices on that particular menu but most of what was offered falls in line with other table-service restaurants. Most entrees were in the $20-$30 range with a few exceptions on both sides.

This is the Fried Chicken & Doughnuts, consisting of Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Maple Bacon Doughnuts and Maple Syrup. Getting this dish felt necessary in the name of research. I was going to opt for the healthiest dish on the menu but then knew that the loyal readers deserved better! The fried chicken was a bit too fried for me, making the breading right on the edge of burnt. The actual chicken was juicy and paired well with the syrup. The Maple Bacon Doughnuts were the star of the plate, although 2 of them was excessive. This is a good dish to share with someone else who hopefully ordered something much healthier than you! I wouldn’t get it again mainly because of how heavy everything was, not because it was lacking in flavor.

Here’s the ‘Traditional’ Biscuit Benedict. This was made up of Black Forest Ham, Poached Eggs, and Classic Hollandaise on a White Cheddar Biscuit with Sour Cream & Onion Scalloped Potatoes. This is a safe option, as everything was prepared well and had a, well, ‘traditional’ flavor. The eggs were especially poached nicely and the biscuit soaked up all of the flavors . The downside is that there was nothing unique about this dish. Not that there’s anything wrong with a good ol’ Eggs Benedict. I really loved the potatoes, as they were cheesy and creamy with just enough crispiness. Melissa liked them far less so your mileage may vary there.

On a trip to a different location (Fashion Island) last summer, I ordered the Chilaquiles and thought it was good but not great. There were a lot of toppings and the dish was filling but nothing stood out about it. Melissa had the Great Maple BLT and felt similarly. We don’t have very defined thoughts or photos from that visit because it was before we knew it would be coming to Disneyland Resort.

The prices were fair but I wouldn’t call it an exceptional deal. It all just falls in line with what you’d pay at a standard sit-down restaurant in Southern California. That said, it is cheaper than the buffet at Storytellers or Goofy’s Kitchen. It’s certainly less than Napa Rose but not near the quality. The better comparison in terms of value is Naples in Downtown Disney. The food is good but not much different than what you’d expect and the prices are in that $20 or $30 range.

I liked Great Maple but didn’t love it. The counter-service restaurants at both the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian have become in our regular rotation and I’d probably prefer those to this option. But Great Maple is definitely a step above some of the generic (and now changing) Downtown Disney restaurants. If you’re in the area and brunch is a favorite of yours, this is a good spot! It’s a decent addition to the Disneyland Resort restaurants, filling a breakfast need.

Overall Rating – 7.5/10

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