The Bakery Tour – Hosted by Boudin Bakery

BREAD TOUR!
Free Bread SAMPLES!!!
And learn the step by step process of making the famous sourdough bread!!!
Honestly I wasn’t too interested in going through the whole tour for this bread but one time, I walked through and it was quite entertaining. You get to see how the bread bowls are made!
I think its something kids would be quite entertained with! I enjoyed it very much!

This bakery was a sight to see. The tour is incredible with free samples. Once you sample the bread you are hooked. The only next step is to buy some clam chowder and make a meal out of it. To be able to see how the bread is made with the historical photos and stories was a great read and visit.
We were met by some very happy staff and they were able to explain the whole process of making the bread. The signs were very helpful as well. The aroma of freshly made bread was exhilarating to your senses. That is probably the best way of getting customers. We were hooked and really enjoyed this free tour.

Ok, so I’ve never actually taken the tour, but I’ve eaten the bread (DELICIOUS) and done the walk through. Our fave part was at the end, watching the people cut the tops out of the bread bowls. They worked with such precision and swiftness that we were mesmerised. Once they cut the tops out, they toss them into a pile across the room. The best part is once they notice you’re watching they start tossing the bowls right at you! You’re protected by glass but still, it was awesome and my kids thought it was hilarious!

I love bread.
And cooking so this combining the two and the smell of fresh baked sourdough bread I was weak in mi knees… I didn’t really read the notes, it was a walk through and you could see the workers mixing, kneading and preparing the dough along the cooking process. I got to see the «mother dough» and it was colossal it looked like a mother dough… Free samples at the end or beginning depending on which way you enter. Definitely get yourself a bread bowl of soup from the restaurant next door!

Located in Disney California Adventure, the Bakery Tour is a nice stop while walking around Pacific Wharf. It may not be the most exciting tour, but it’s still worth a visit.
We noticed the cool, old car out in front of the building first. After taking a dozen photos with the car, we decided to go inside. There was a short film about how the bread is made and a couple of Disney employees handing out samples of fresh Boudin bread. We then walked through the small building as we watched the employees making the bread through large glass windows.
Right after the brief tour, we went next door to grab some lunch at the Pacific Wharf Café. I think it’s brilliant how the tour’s exit lead directly to the bread cart and the café’s entrance. I also think the samples of the sourdough bread and the wonderful smell of baking bread made us even more hungry. We also bought some bread on the way out. The little bread cart had delicious bread and good service.
Although we probably won’t stop by here again, this little tour is worth seeing at least once!

Free bread sample at the door? Yes please!
You get to chew on this piece of bread while you learn about the mother dough and yeast from more than a hundred years ago.
As you walk through and if you’re lucky, you get to follow the dough through processing. It makes you appreciate the bread that much more… And then you go get a bread bowl full of clam chowder next door!
Gets me every time!

This is a hidden gem inside California Adventure. Swing over and grab a sample of sourdough bread. You will not be disappointed! Then make your way to the front of the restaurant and order anything from the menu.
This bread is so delicious, it goes well with any of the menu items. My favorite is the broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl. Also, we enjoy the Chicken Apple Salad inside a bread bowl. I order them on the side so my bread does not get soggy.
Tips and tricks — grab a few pats of butter at the check out counter. Spread it on the extra pieces of bread (if you have any left) ;)
Order it «to go» and enjoy it when you get home!
Try the turkey pesto sammie and let me know how it is!

The BEST sourdough bread in the world!!! Well okay I don’t know about in the whole world, but the best sour dough bread around. Soooooooooo good! Nice and soft in the inside and the perfect amount of chewyness on the outside. Love this bread mmm

This is a quick tour. My kids and I love getting the free sample then watching the bakers bake the bread. And its never busy, so its an easy 5 minutes.

After their 2015 renovation, they no longer have the cheesy but amusing video of Rosie O’Donnell + Colin Mochrie from Whose Line is it Anyway to guide you through.
This is now a walk-​by-​yourself-​and-​read-​the-​signs tour.
You still get a piece of sourdough upon entry but the tour is as short or as long as you want based on your own leisure.
I liked the older version better but I guess they felt the video was outdated.
Still smells fantastic though.

You hungry for a snack? Want some free bread? Perhaps you’re interested in the production of fine sourdough bread and are curious about… just want some free bread, huh? Well, either way this attraction is for you.
This Bakery Tour hosted by Boudin has been around these parts at DCA since opening day. It was rumored to be closing and turning into something else (much like the tortilla factory tour turned into Ghiradelli’s across the way) but it actually just turned into a much overdue refurbishment. Outside the exterior building has received new signage, a new fancy awning, and a neat little car parked right out front. As soon as you enter you’ll receive a free piece of Boudin sourdough bread. If you’re a rude a-​hole (my words) you’ll simply snatch your free little morsel of bread and scurry back out the front door like the effing rat you are. If you’re a polite individual you’ll at least walk through the attraction and out the actual exit. By all means though, if you are curious and actually give a care then feel free to stay and see what this «tour» is really all about.
Basically, it’s about watching a short video and walking through the building witnessing employees through large windows during the various processes of this bread production from conception to finished product. If it were up to me, which of course it is not, I would place the cast member serving the bread samples at the exit instead of the entrance so that way the factory tour tells more of a linear story like «here’s how they do it and this is a finished product for you to taste» instead of the «here’s some bread. Wondering how they did that? Well, step inside.» If that change were made though, I guess the aforementioned a-​holes would just bombard the exit instead. Heck, the exit doors are already propped open most of time anyway…
The tour in self is simply alright, nothing fancy. The short video you watch gives some backstory on the Boudin family and tells you about the «mother dough» and that process. This video stars Colin Mochrie and Rosie O’ Donnell and is mildly entertaining. There used to be several other tvs along the tour route that continued the story but those have all been removed and the short intro video is all that remains. Other new additions to the interior of the building include new signs and verbiage lining the walls, a small cart holding examples of finished bread, a new display comparing the weight and worth of mother dough to gold, and plenty of chairs and tables to sit and relax and most likely placed there so guests could purchase some of the finished bread and enjoy it without wandering off too far.
All in all, the new additions are welcomed for this aged and tired attraction and witnesses the production of the sourdough is kinda neat, but at the end of the day it seems this place is simply all about the bread. Or, at least the free samples of the bread.

Crazily enough my 8 yr old daughter loved this tour! Maybe it was the fact that it was 100 degrees outside and nice and cool inside or maybe it was the free Mickey bread she got straight from the baker– at any rate we’re glad we took the tour!

I’m sure this was great when it was brand new and drew in the crowds, but now, in its current state? It’s kind of sad.
You walk in and are greeted by the only person who will actually speak to or acknowledge you during the entire «tour». You’re handed two thinly sliced pieces of wonderful sourdough bread, then you’re given the opportunity to wander through the place.
There isn’t much to see. I mean, sure — there’s the inner workings of the bakery, but it really isn’t *that* fascinating. I took a picture of the wall of mother dough, and then stationed myself in front of one of the TVs for the tour, only to see… Rose O’Donnell and that funny guy from «Whose Line Is It, Anyway?»
I may sound a bit harsh, but the «tour» was bad. Like, super bad. Cheesy dialog, sad gags and bad acting. I learned a bit about how Boudin makes their wonderful bread, but other than that, it was just not worth the time.
I do remember coming in here once, back when the Ghirardelli across the way was the Mission Tortilla Factory. I remember that the people behind the glass actually took a moment to acknowledge the tourists, and on some occasions actually interacted with them a bit.
Those days are long gone. The one girl «behind the glass» that saw our small group of people coming towards her took one look at us — I mean, eye contact was established, people! — and fled to the back of the bakery. I must offend.
I’m wondering if they’ve got any ideas about how to better utilize this space. Because as it is now, it’s just not a draw. Except for the bread. Lovely, delicious bread.

Walt Disney loved to entertain and educate people… that’s why the Imagineers continued the tradition by building and opening this place.
First off, it’s not an attraction per se. You don’t get in a ride vehicle. It’s pretty much a walk through.
You start off with a sample of bread! YAY! Then, you watch a short clip on the room where they gave you the sample. It stars two pretty famous people — I’m pretty sure you know them. Children… probably not. Lol. Then, the doors open to the bakery. You keep watching the clip over each bread process. It’s really cool to see how bread is made, and it’s weird how I don’t ever really get tired of going here. Probably ’cause of the free bread samples! Hahaha.

my kids love this place! it was years before i actually stepped in and checked it out…
it’s the boudin bakery in California Adventure Park @ the Disneyland Resort. on the wharf =)
you walk in the tour and they hand you a sample (or 2) of delish fresh out of the oven boudin bread… then you watch a short film about the history of boudin. the doors open and you walk down a pathway with floor to ceiling windows where you watch the bakers actually making the bread!!! super duper cool… my kids absolutely love it!
check it out. one of those random things to do at Disneyland that you may not have ever noticed

I’ve been to DCA many times and never knew about this place until now. If you’re a fan of Disney’s soup-​in-​a-​bread-​bowl, this short tour is a must. Very interesting. They give out free samples of the sourdough when you walk in, and there are loaves for sale outside (yes, there’s one shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head, and yes, we bought it).
If the Disney folks are reading this, here’s my advice: Add a sandwich shop to this bakery, so that people can order a sandwich when they walk in, go on the tour, and pick up their sandwich on their way out. How cool would that be?

The Boudin Bakery Tour is a 13 minute bread tour that opened in 2001 in the Pacific Wharf region of Disney’s California Adventure. The bakery tour is a cute and funny little tour that shows how sourdough bread is made hosted by Colin Mochrie and Rosie O’Donnell.
After entering the building, a Disney staff member hands out one to two pieces of sourdough bread per person. The attraction starts in the same room where they hand you the pieces of bread with a TV screen in front and some posters with information about how sourdough is first made. The program begin having Colin and Rosie talk about a brief history about the bread. Afterwards, you move into the next room which is actually the room that shows you how Disney’s sourdough breads are made everyday here in the magic kingdom. Next Colin and Rosie continue to provide amusing commentary as the tour passes by the rooms where the dough is mixed, proofed, formed into loaves and eventually baked.
The original Boudin Bakery in San Francisco has produced sourdough bread for over 150 years and the «mother dough» (the fermentation starter used in bread making) was developed by French baker Isidore Boudin in 1849. The bacteria found in the mother dough is unique to San Francisco and has a patented name called «lactobacillus sanfrancisco». Surprising the bread’s only ingredients are: unbleached flour, water, salt, and a portion of the mother dough to create that crunchy first bite of goodness.
Tips:
The Pacific Wharf Café, which is just behind the bakery, uses loaves of bread baked in the bakery for their sandwiches and their soup and salad bread bowls.
Boudin sourdough bread baked at Disney’s California Adventure may be purchased at the Pacific Wharf Café and at the Fruit Stand near the bakery. In addition to the round loaves, loaves shaped like Mickey’s head are also available.
(So if you like to eat larger portions of the sourdough bread samples you can buy them here too.)
Pros:
Interesting and fun facts about sourdough breads can be found here. (And you wonder why you can’t recreate these breads at home. Ha, well we now know why because it takes nearly 70 some hours to make a loaf of sourdough bread 0₀).
Apart from the free samples you can hind from either the hot sun or the cold nights here. (This place has both air conditioning and heaters to adjust to the temperature outside.)
I dunno about you but, I am really interested in cooking and how they mass produce food products. (So this type of stuff interests me =)
Cons:
None! (Apart from the bread samples stimulating my appetite and making me hungry again).
Overall, a good place to take a breather or a break from the hectic and chaotic day at Disneyland.

My sister made fun of me for wanting to do this.
Come on– it’s an air conditioned place and they give you a free small slice of delicious sour dough bread (that I think saved me from heartburn after my spicy Mexican Caesar salad at the Mexican place around the corner).
The video is cute and then it’s neat that you get to see the baking magic happen before your eyes.
Definitely a nice 10 minute break!

Recently my daughter and I stepped in taking a break from all of the crowds at California Adventure Park to see what this tour was all about. I always saw the sign above the door behind the Boudin Bakery at the Pacific Wharf, but never took the plunge.
At the door we received a couple of sourdough bread samples and trudged on forward into a room with various sourdough breads including a couple shaped into the characters from the Cars movie. Very cute and different in comparison to the crabs and turtles you see at the famous branch at the Wharf in San Francisco. There was also an informative narration on the television screen up above us, but my daughter was more interested in seeing the action behind the large paneled glass in the bakery. There wasn’t anything on any of the belts at the time, so we quickly passed by after finishing our bread samples and were out the doors and on our way.
I’ll have to honestly take the actual time and listen to the narrated tour one of these days to really give this place a fair rating, otherwise it gets just a 3-​star rating from me for now.

Quick, very interesting and you get a free piece of Sourdough!
Once you’ve done it once, you don’t need to do it again, but let’s be serious…
The reason we do this tour over and over is for the free sourdough, air conditioning/​heat on the cool days and some shade
I guess the tour gives more value to why you pay the high prices for the sourdough dishes in the actual Boudin Bakery next door, but not sure it’s the best use of the space.