Garden View Lounge Afternoon Tea - Grand Floridian

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

I know a few Fiend ladies that can weigh in on this one. I for one had a TERRIFIC time!!

From the Disney Food blog...

Grand Floridian’s Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Lounge

Jan 30th, 2012 by AJ.

We’re welcoming back guest author Melissa Sue as she shares a review of the Grand Floridian’s afternoon tea!

My husband, Rob, and I headed to the Grand Floridian for an afternoon tea experience in December.

Grand Floridian

Atmosphere

After hopping off the monorail we found the waiting area for the Garden View Lounge, which is located on the bottom floor of the Main Building lobby. The waiting area is extremely charming — though too small — and has Beauty and the Beast characters Chip and Mrs. Potts inlaid into the tile floor. How cute!

Mrs. Potts is the perfect Disney touch outside the tea room!

This Chip won’t blow bubbles in your tea!

The check-in podium was easy to locate and well-appointed. Unfortunately, there were only two seats in the waiting area, so we were mostly standing while we waited.

The check-in podium, on the south east side of the Main Building at Grand Floridian.

And, boy, did we wait. I should preface this by saying that the Tea Room was obviously either overbooked or understaffed the day of our tea. Our party of two waited for 40 minutes before being seated, while other, larger parties, some without a reservation, were taken in ahead of us.

We’d already had a long morning, including rope drop at Magic Kingdom and exploring at the Contemporary, so we were tired, hungry, and not interested in waiting around. To add insult to impatience, the lobby of the Grand Floridian was extremely loud and busy as it was the holiday season.

Once we were seated, we were able to see why it’s called the Garden View Lounge—what a great view! You can see out to Bay Lake Beach as well as out across several grassy areas to the Courtyard Pool.

Grand Floridian Garden

There were guests seated around us, and they each had adorable Grand Floridian tea cozies on their teapots.

Grand Floridian Tea Cozy

The tables here are primarily small, round marble-style tables. There is chair and booth seating available, although chairs make up the vast majority of the seating.

Table Seating

Everything is covered in pale pink and green florals here, in keeping with the overall theme at the Grand Floridian. We were seated along the lobby wall, and I opted to sit on the banquet-style seating, while Rob sat in a more traditional seat.

Our table setting.

Eats

During our long wait, we were able to get our hands on the menu, so we were ready to order as soon as our beleaguered server made his way over to us.

Cover of the extensive Tea menu

Specialty teas offered - click image for larger version

Traditional tea offerings - click image for larger version

Traditional Afternoon Tea Offerings - click image for larger version

A La Carte Offerings - click image for larger version

Other Beverage Selections - click image for larger version

If you’re never enjoyed real tea service, you’re in for a treat! Each flavor of tea comes to your table in its own individual pot. The tea leaves and hot water are steeping inside. Typically, your waiter will fill the first cup, pouring through a tea strainer to capture any errant leaves that may try to get into your teacup. If you like a good cup of tea, this process feels very special.

I ordered the Grand Tea, which includes tea sandwiches, a scone, a jam tart, and dessert of pastries or trifle. It also came with tea — I opted for the Imperial English Breakfast — and a glass of sparkling wine. The wine was overly sweet and slightly sour. It tasted like the bottle had been open for a while, although the Tea Room was clearly busy.

Tea Service

The meal started with five tea sandwiches for me. I wasn’t able to verify what was on each of the sandwiches, but they seemed to include a cucumber sandwich, a curry sandwich, a fig and blue cheese sandwich, some kind of fish sandwich and an egg salad. They were all delicious, except for the cucumber, which I never enjoy and find to be bland.

Tea Sandwiches

There was also a slab of paté on the plate as well as a small onion tart. I didn’t think either was anything to write home about, but my husband very much enjoyed the tart. He said it reminded him of an onion roll.

Enjoying the first course.

My husband ordered the Prince Edwards Tea. An almost British-style cheese plate, his meal included three types of paté, cheese, marinated berries, and Cumberland sauce. He also received scones with Devonshire cream, a pot of tea (Darjeeling for him) and a glass of port. The port was complex and mellow, and he enjoyed it.

Close-up of the Prince Edwards

His meal started with a giant, long plate containing the lion’s share of his service. Taking up the most room on the plate were two slices each of three different patés, some with bread already wrapped around them and some without.

There were also several slices of blue and cheddar cheeses, which were flavorful, but not Disney cheese-plate quality. The plate also had a sweet fruit-based sauce (which neither of us enjoyed) and some fresh, whole strawberries.

Our First Course Spread

My meal continued with a scone and a jam tart, while Rob’s continued with two scones.

The scones were filled with seasonal cranberries instead of more traditional raisins (Editor’s Note: This might be further result of Disney’s new partnership with Ocean Spray Craisins). Thick, dense, and buttery, they were almost more like biscuits and not at all like the scones I am used to getting at home, but yummy all the same.

Scone and jam tart

The jam tart, it seemed, was literally jam from a jar spooned into a tartlet shell and chilled in the fridge. It was nothing special, and was, in fact, entirely too sweet.

Second course in action

For dessert, I had my pick of two items from the dessert tray, which included a pastry swan with mint cream, éclairs, fruit tarts, and chocolate covered strawberries. Rob and I opted to go for the strawberry mousse and the linzer tart. Rob’s meal did not include dessert.

Rob loved the mousse, but I didn’t like it. I thought the texture was too thick, almost solid in the mouth, although it was remarkably smooth. Rob thought it tasted like strawberry-flavored Quick, which he listed as a positive attribute. For me, it tasted somewhat chemical.

The linzer tart was covered in the same thick jam that I’d found in my jam tart in the previous course. The bottom of the tart desperately needed something crunchy to round out the dessert. It was a nice end to the meal, though.

Dessert Course

Overall

The Garden View Lounge is lovely and would make an excellent bar for cocktails or relaxing after a long day in the parks. As a tea room, it is lacking. Talking with our waiter at the end of the meal, he admitted that the Lounge is understaffed, that the plates are too large for the tables and that the whole room is in need of some love. He was clearly harried, and I sort of wanted to give him a hug.

After the long wait, the tea service lasted about as long as our wait did — too short, in our opinion. When we think of tea, we plan to sit and relax for a couple of hours, but this service was brusque, inattentive, and poorly-paced. Our server was kind, but he was clearly overworked, and at several points throughout the afternoon, the woman at the check-in desk came into the dining room to serve plates. It was completely unacceptable and not at all the kind of service I’d come to expect from Disney.

The meal itself was surprisingly filling — we felt as if we’d had a full lunch, easily — but nothing terrifically exciting. Also, a note about consistency: I’ve heard about others who were served scones and tarts before the tea sandwiches when ordering the Grand Tea. Either way is fine by me, but it seems that there should be some similarities between guest experiences.

I love afternoon tea, and I really love the idea of afternoon tea on Disney property. I even agree that the theme of the Grand Floridian lends itself well to the experience. But based on our experience, things need to change here. They need a larger room or fewer ADRs, and I think they need to revisit the menu. Until they make some changes, I don’t see any reason to go back.

Has your afternoon tea experience been similar? We want your thoughts, too!

Melissa Sue Sorrells Galley works in higher education communications in upstate New York, where she lives with her husband, Robert, and her cavapoo, George. She’s is the co-editor of Mouse on the Mind.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/01/30/guest-review-grand-floridians-afternoon-tea-at-the-garden-view-lounge/

[SCTigerCock 171]

My mom loves this! My dad too, if you look past all the bluster he spews. Lol.

Best time was they were there and I was able call and "treat" them without them knowing. Even though the went to WDW without me, meannies. Lol. The later admitted, they were curious why the servers seemed to pay more attention and knew thier names.

Don't tell anyone, but Tony enjoyed it when we took him.

[we3peas 12]

I have this booked for my birthday in May. I hope it will be a good experience.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

We had a wonderful time! We weren't rushed at all! Our server was very attentive and made sure we had a great experience. I would do the afternoon tea again in a heartbeat!!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Ditto!!! It was a beautiful room, the servers were terrific and the food and tea were both really really good! We all ordered some version of their tea services where you get an assortment of courses. It didn't sound like a lot of food at first, but it just kept coming and coming and I think we were all quite full by the time we were done.

Of course the best part was the company! :heartsmiley:

Here's a link to a thread where Carol and I both posted our pics of the food from that day...

http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/249-food-pictures-food-pics-from-all-around-walt-disney-world/page__st__60

[LORNADUCK 261]

We had a wonderful time! We weren't rushed at all! Our server was very attentive and made sure we had a great experience. I would do the afternoon tea again in a heartbeat!!

Ditto

[we3peas 12]

Maybe the key is to not go at holiday time if you want to relax.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

We went on a random Thursday right when they opened. We must have been there for a couple of hours.

Then we sat outside and yakked for a while.

DH still refers to is as "The 7 Hours of Tea"

:rofl2:

[motherwild 1]

We had done this back in march 2009. We took my Aunt. There were 6 adults and two kids. It was a nice afternoon. We are doing it again on our next trip.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Enjoy! I know we all had a blast and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.