Garden Grill Questions

[ToyStory3]

Going to GG for the first time in September. There will be 7 of us and none of us have ever been to a character meal before. The kids (12, 10, 6) aren't overly interested in a character meal but we want to try one out.

If no one is interested in getting up and getting pictures with the characters will it be weird? Will it seem rude if we just wave at them, etc. from our seats?

And, it looks like there are 2 tiers to the restaurant. It appears that the bottom tier has a better view of the Land. Is that correct? Can we request the bottom tier?

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

If you are not interested in getting photos with the characters, just tuck your cameras away, off the table, and out of sight. I don't usually get photos taken because I vacation solo, leaving my DH at home for a week. One time a character just pointed to my camera that was on the table, I said OK, and the handler CM took the picture with my camera.

Yes, Garden Grille is two levels. I remember being on the top level, the view was good, but I don't know what the view is like on the bottom level.

I would love a comparison report on the two different levels.

 

[Frankiemack]

Going to GG for the first time in September. There will be 7 of us and none of us have ever been to a character meal before. The kids (12, 10, 6) aren't overly interested in a character meal but we want to try one out.

If no one is interested in getting up and getting pictures with the characters will it be weird? Will it seem rude if we just wave at them, etc. from our seats?

And, it looks like there are 2 tiers to the restaurant. It appears that the bottom tier has a better view of the Land. Is that correct? Can we request the bottom tier?

Yes, GG has 2 tiers. The bottom tier is a much better view of the Land below. I'm sure you could request to wait for a lower tier seat when you arrive at the restaurant, however being a group of 7, I'm pretty sure you'll be seated there by default. If I remember correctly, the upper tier is only booths that support up to 6 people I believe.

As for the character interaction, Chip and Dale are so much fun!! Even if you don't want pictures, they'll come around and tease/play with you a bit. The CM's definitely know how to limit the experience to your preferences though and they won't push over the boundary if your group is not comfortable with it.

 

[epsmith921]

Okay so not garden grill, but my husband and I went to cinderella's royal table just the two of us a number of years ago. We did it for eating in the castle and some good food, not to meet any princesses. We had our camera out on the table because I'd been taking pictures of the view to the outside (dumbo was still back there at the time) and one of the princesses came to our table. She said "would you like to take my picture?" And pointed at the camera. We said "no thank you." And she seemed disappointed but left quickly.

We didn't mean to be rude but we really were happy to let the princesses spend the time with the children there.

I think garden grill will be better since the characters are a bit more fun. Just had to relate it is possible to have it be awkward, but I agree to keep the cameras hidden and just play along with the characters as they come. They'll know if you just want to smile and wave at them.

 

[luvdisney87]

We're going for the first time in October and I can't wait. The food sounds delicious! I just hope they get it fixed and turning by then.

 

[ajwolfe]

We were just there last week. The character interaction was great, but I thought I would mention that none of the characters had handlers with them. So there would be no one to ask about taking a picture for you. We were on the bottom tier and it was a horrible view due to no rotation - we were right up in the front near check in.

 

[audjee]

I've eaten at Garden Grill with groups of over 9 twice, and both times we were on the upper tier.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Our Ratings of Garden Grill: (*rev 12/28/2013*)
. . . food price value: B
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: B
. . . food selection: C
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: B
. . . eatery convenience: B
. . . staff friendliness: B
. . . staff attentiveness: C
. . . character interaction: B

NOTE1: The eatery revolves within The Land pavilion and portions of spin include farm
scenes from the boat ride. The food is plentiful, but quality merely average. You pay for
the characters and not the food or food quality. Food is served family style and there is
always more, as it is All You Care To Enjoy. Characters include Mickey, Pluto, Chip-n-Dale.

NOTE2: The lower deck tables have one-side seats which can make talking among the
table diners tough, especially if you have six-to-eight people, which takes about 12-feet
in linear distance. This means that you cannot easily stand to interact with characters.
The upper has standard tables that seat people facing each other and you can stand and
interact. I recommend upper tier for characters; lower for viewing the river-ride scenery.
There is little chance of motion sickness, as the eatery moves so slowly. If you do have
a concern, the upper level happens rarely.

 

[GillianP1301]

We've eaten at GG twice, once we sat on the upper tier, the other on the lower. The view is definitely nicer from the bottom and feels more open to me, even though it really probably isn't. The upper tier you have the aisle and then just wall (centre of the restaurant) on one side of you and then the divider between you and lower tier on the other side. You can see over that divider to see whatever is on the outer walls/view, but that's about it. I don't recall whether or not our DS was able to see past it or not though. For me, it's not a big enough deal to request or wait for lower level because even though I do prefer it, it's not like it's an awesome view you're missing out on.

I'm pretty sure a larger group (like over 6) would normally end up on the upper tier because the lower tier are booths that are fixed in place and the upper tier were more just normal 2 or 4 top tables and chairs that they would be able to manipulate and push together for larger groups.

As for the characters, we have always done pictures with our DS, but I don't think you'll have a problem at all, just don't have a camera out or they may assume you want pictures. As long as you're friendly, wave hello, I think that's fine. We got each character 3 or 4 times, I'm sure they'll figure out pretty quickly to just give a quick wave and move on when they get to your table.

 

[BebopBaloo]

We really enjoy Garden Grill. The atmosphere, food, and character interaction are all fantastic. Chip and Dale are rather playful, so if you're not wanting interaction..this may not be the best place, but they will get the hint after the first go round. As a previous poster mentioned, the rotation of the restaurant is currently not happening. There's a broken part that they are hoping to have fixed by the end of the summer. It might be working by September, but it may not be. Keep that in mind- if that is part of your reason for going there, esp. if you're not that interested in the characters.