Good, Bad and Ugly about Garden Grill

[cd&kids]

We're excited about trying this restuarant on our next trip, but, as always, we love hearing everything about any new place before we try it!
And good, bad or indifferent experiences you'd like to share?
Thanks!

[GEM]

We've never eaten lunch or dinner there, but it used to be our very favorite place in the whole world for breakfast! I really wish they still served breakfast there. :(

Anyway, the food was always good and it seemed to be a little bit quieter and less hectic than most of the other character meals, so the character interaction was always great. I hope you enjoy it!

[DBH]

We haven't been there since '99. It was probably the worse meal we have had at WDW. The Service was slow and the food tasted like it had been sitting under a hot lamp(very dry). It may have been an isolated occurance but we haven't wanted to go back.

[wonderlandaddict]

We went for the first time last year and we LOVED it! Food was wonderful & charactor interaction was very good. We are sure to return.

[Harambe]

We LOVE this place. We always eat here! Last trip, I screwed up - I had made PS's for 6:30 then changed it to 5:30 right before we left. Well, you guessed it, we showed up at 6:30! I turned to my family and confessed my error. Then I suggested that we grab something elsewhere since it would be a 45 minute wait and we were starving.

NO WAY they said and we waited! LOL! The best salad on property (greens are grown right there!) - the meats are always tasty, and I love the Apple Crisp with vanilla bean ice cream.

And the character interaction here is awesome. Mickey is here, as is Pluto and Chip and Dale. They dance around with the kids and play tic tac toe with them. They love to plop into your booth, too.

Eat here - you won't be sorry!

[dpic]

We ate there in '99, and were absolutely stuffed! Good character inter-action. Our children still talk about it. What's neat, too, is the whole resturant revolves so you get great views. Our favorite was when we went over The Land ride and could see the boats (or were they cars?) go by.

Great fun.

[babygarrettsmom]

I've eaten there many times. Both as a couple, and with ds. We've never had a bad meal there. We generally see much more of the characters than at any other character meal. Even though DH is a fast eater (and the rest of us struggle to keep up LOL), we usually see each character at LEAST twice. And they don't just wave and keep walking. They sit with you, play with the kids, take pictures, etc. It's a great time! And the flank steak is awesome!!!

[jacksonsmom]

We ate there last December & really enjoyed it.
The characters spent alot of time with us, Chip even "Thumb wrestled" with my hubby!!!
Dale sat down with my son & they colored together. It was a great memory.

The only bad was the day we went the motor was broken so it didn't rotate :(
BUT we plan on going back this summer, hopefully it will be rotating ::yes::

[scanmom]

this place has no bad or ugly! We love it and ate there 2 times in 3 days on our last trip!!:sunny:

[mm lover in Ia]

My DH and I and our two children really liked it. The food was really good even though our kids ate all our corn on the cob. We had lots of time with the characters, it was great.
:bounce:

[sm4987]

Loved it. We did it for our reservations in EPCOT for the Candlelight Processional and it was wonderful. The character interaction that we received was over the top. I thought that Chef Mickey's had the best interaction until I went here. Definately go.

[goofy4tink]

We love it there. Ate there for the first time in Aug and liked it so much that dd and I ate there again for the CP meal. It was even better the second time. This could be because we sat on the lower level. It seems to be a little quieter. We'll be eating there again this coming August.

[cd&kids]

Glad to hear that most of you loved it! We are very excited about visiting here....and my 6-year-old DD loves tic-tac-toe and is already looking forward to a game with Mick or another friend!
Can someone tell me what the Candlelight Processional is?
Thanks again.

[GEM]

Candlelight Processional is a choir and story event at Christmas. It's bascially a wonderful telling of the Christmas story with orchestra, song, and narration.

[cd&kids]

Wow...sounds wonderful, GEM. Too bad we're going down November 11th...I'm sure that'll be too early.
Is it in Garden Grill...or out in the park?

[goofy4tink]

CP takes place in World Showcase, in the outside theater across from the American Pavillion. It is truly a wonderful way to start the holidays. My dd can't wait to share it with her dad this year. Garden Grill in only one of many restaurants that take part in this package.

[GEM]

Yeah. I think they start after Thanksgiving. It's wonderful, though! Incredible music! They do it in the big outdoor theater over in the American section of World Showcase. It's a HUGE deal!

[disneyfan551]

We ate here for the 1st time with the CP package also. It was wonderful!! The food was pretty good (great bread, salad and apple crisp!). And, like others have said, the character interaction was definitely the best we had, out of 3 char. meals that trip! We sat on the lower level, and felt like we had the restaurant to ourselves! Loved the rotation, too!!!

Good luck deciding!! :D

[Nhorse]

Question about the meal, I know it's served family style, but is it all you can eat, do you choose certain items or do you get a variety, how exactly does that work?

[Harambe]

They bring you a bowl of salad to start (at dinner), then a"skillet" that has fried catfish, flank steak, and roast turkey, plus sides of mashed and vegetable. The kid's "skillet" has mac and cheese, chicken tenders and fries. If you want more of anything, just ask the server. Desert comes with the meal - it is Apple Crisp and ice cream for adults and "dirt and worms" for the kids (choc pudding with cookie crumbs and gummy worms). DD didn't want the pudding, so they gave us more ice cream.

[1princessesmom]

We had lunch there yesterday and it was GREAT! THe flank steak was awesome. We celebrated our DS first birthday and they brought out a cake and and sang happy birthday. The character interaction was nothing great, but how much interaction can you have with a 1 year old?!?! WE woould definately go again. IT was much less hectic than other places we went.

[Fire14]

My Dh and I ate here on our Annv. trip. The food was good but didn't suit our tastes. We are more of the meat and pot. type. The character interaction was great and atmosphere is quiet and calming. WE also got "rehitched" by our waitress. I'd say if your crew is a salad, natural type than you'd love it.

[Gadget Girl]

We love Garden Grill so much that it is a must-do every trip. My kids absolutely love it. Once, we lucked out and were there at a very quiet time: ::MickeyMo sat down and colored with us!!!!

[gopherit]

I always loved this place (back when it had a menu, not all u care to eat...) So last year, when another dining plan fell through at the last moment, I called dining to see what the options were for a party of 12 in Epcot... and the Garden Grille came up. SUre, why not.

Well, they put us at 3 adjacent tables for 4. THe characters were in full swing -- seems they had all the time in the world for us! Mickey came and colored with our 2 yr old dd. PLuto was licking and poking fun at everyone. Chip and Dale were their usual frisky selves. -- like I said, LOTS of interaction! As for the food -- salad, then the skillets. DH, BIL, sister, and my eldest ds (then 7) polished off 5 skillets, I believe, between them! The catfish was really good. I don't even like fish (especially bottom-feeders -- ewww) but I gotta say, it was good! Flank steak also good. I personally despise those little ears of corn, though -- gross and starchy -- but the kids didn't seem to care! DH proclaimed this to be his favorite restaurant of the trip. My dh and I got re-hitched -- it was the first we had ever heard of such a thing (and it was in fact our 12th wedding anniversary -- my SIL mentioned it to the staff and the next thing we know, we're in this little ceremony!)

I will say however that my SIL and BIL (not the skillet-chomping BIL of table #1 who's married to my sis -- this is BIL of table #3) didn't seem to care for the meal. Maybe I read them wrong, but I don't think they cared for skillet-dining. Or maybe it was because we all got split into 3 tables. Or maybe they had departure on their minds (they were headed back to pack right after dinner). Or maybe they were mad because we were going to eat somewhere else and that was their first preference. For whatever reason, I noticed they had only the 1 skillet, and certain things went untouched and it didn't seem they enjoyed it to the extent DH did. And we didn't get apple dessert. Ours was like a lemon merengue pie (personally, the apple would have gone MUCH better with the meal... more down-home kinda appeal.) We did get the worms / dirt for the kids, which was quite cute and served, if I recall, in Ball canning jars. Very "theme-appropriate"!

AS FOR ME... I didn't rank GG as #1 in our dining experiences for that trip (as DH did), and I don't think I'll include it on our next trip, but it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it or wouldn't go back ever again. There's just too many great places to dine at WDW, and I'm ready for our next adventure!

[OhMickey]

This is the BEST restaurant for character interaction. I can go on and on with different stories. We have visited this restaurant on every visit and we love it!

One time, Pluto carried my 13 year old daughter around the restaurant. She had a broken leg and he wanted to "marry" her. He literally swept her off her feet.

Another time, we had the characters to ourselves. We had lunch in mid afternoon. They spent a lot of time "talking" to my then 5 year old. Actually, he was doing all the talking and the characters just sat and shook their heads. This lasted a very long time and I will never forget it.

The food is pretty good too. The flank steak is my DD and DH's favorite. I like the catfish. The salad and homemade dressing is very tasty. The desserts differ (from what I understand). One time we had lemon meringue pie. I usually don't like anything that isn't chocolate. But the pie was very good.

Like mentioned above this restaurant does not have any bad or ugly. Go and enjoy.

[StinkerbellsMom]

We went there a few years back and celebrated my Mom's Birthday and our Anniversary. Well, as soon as Chip found out it was Mom's Bday he would not leave her alone! LOL She still giggles whenever she remembers him waiting for her outside the restroom and jumping out at her and then dancing with her and escorting her back to her table :tongue: ... of course he first inspected her hands by 'sniffing them' and making hand washing motions and then (thankfully) gave her the thumbs up about it!::yes:: Mom was hysterical! It was a great 70th Bday for her! princess: We were also 'rehitched' by a waitress there and at Ohana's Bkfst too! :earsboy: :earsgirl: The food was good and they were wonderful with my mom's special needs (she is a diabetic), they didnt have any sugar free dessert and since we had pretty much just popped in earlier in the day and made PS for the evening there was no time ... they went out and got her a few different sugar free dessert items from another restaurant for her to choose from! It was just WONDERFUL of them!!! We are looking forward to going back. The characters were awesome and interacted with our three girls OFTEN and they tucked into the booth with us and colored, played, and chip even took pictures of the kids with their cameras ... they still pull that picture out and say :chat: REMEMBER ... this is the one CHIP took of us! AWESOME MEMORIES!!!

[magicmouse2]

I have PS for Garden Grill. I originally tried for Chef Mickeys but it wasnt available for dinner. Anyhow I have so many photos of us with Chef Mickey, I thought it about time for Mickey to change his clothes:earsboy: :teeth: Dont tell DH but he will be marrying me - again!:rotfl:

[callahanjulie10]

The Garden Grill has never failed me yet!
I have eaten there on many trips with many differernt family members.
We even had a b-day celebration for my DD there one year. The food is grown there. Take the ride before you go in- you will see everything- cool. When you actually sit down- you will slowly rotate around the different areas- which is cool. The characters come to your area and spend time- not just a skip by. The food is served family style and it is just a great place to relax. Enjoy

[wuv tigger]

We have been on each of our last two trips and love it. It is a nice break with great character interaction. I will add another vote for the flank steak - it is awesome. The only downside is that my kids end up covered head to toe in dirt and worms, but that is part of the fun :)

One thing you might want to do is get a fastpass for the land ride before you eat. That way you can ride it without waiting when you are done.

David

[Yzma and Kronk]

Originally posted by jacksonsmom

The only bad was the day we went the motor was broken so it didn't rotate :(
BUT we plan on going back this summer, hopefully it will be rotating ::yes::

LOL!

I wish it was broken the day we were there!

Meal was excellent, character interaction was great.

However, the whole time we were there I felt sea-sick! We were seated in the upper area, so I could see the wall go by throughout the meal. Very weird. I tried not to think about it, but I was spinning. It stopped once we were out of the restaurant! No one else in our party felt the movement.
Not to worry, I get sea sick on a floaty in a swimming pool!
:crazy:

[tinkie]

is it possible to ask that certain items be left OUT of your skillet?

[OhMickey]

Yes, you can request that they do not bring certain items. They are very accomodating here.