A January Engagement Celebration and first time dining report! Updated 2/10

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

I read the title of your review and thought, did I write this and forget?! My fiance and I also went to Disney in January (9-16) to celebrate our Christmas Eve engagement. Also, I am going to be doing a review as well, my first! I am loving your review! You guys are so adorable together...my fiance and I also love the peoplemover. How relaxing. We also wore the wonderful buttons- can't imagine a trip without them now!

Your pictures are wonderful and the commentary is great. I also loved your fiance's Jasmine pin! So cute. You are showing me so many places I have not yet eaten at Disney so that's exciting! Wishing you all the best on your upcoming wedding

 

[amandadisney]

Congratulations! Great report so far! I know what you mean by RAIN, we were at IOA on Jan. 17th and got completely soaked

It was HORRIBLE! I told Don I refused to leave before we did something, so we trudged through the AK rivers to see Lion King. My pants were soaked haha. But, it was the only bad day of weather, so I can't complain too much!

Glad to see you enjoyed the Kouzzina breakfast. The pancake and waffles are my new favorites(I order the chicken sausage). Planning to go twice when we return in May. Thanks for the review and pics.

I am such a bacon lover, but I might have to become a sausage lover because of the paper bacon epidemic. Is the waffle as good as it looked? It looked heavenly being carted around the room to the tables.

I read the title of your review and thought, did I write this and forget?! My fiance and I also went to Disney in January (9-16) to celebrate our Christmas Eve engagement. Also, I am going to be doing a review as well, my first! I am loving your review! You guys are so adorable together...my fiance and I also love the peoplemover. How relaxing. We also wore the wonderful buttons- can't imagine a trip without them now!

Your pictures are wonderful and the commentary is great. I also loved your fiance's Jasmine pin! So cute. You are showing me so many places I have not yet eaten at Disney so that's exciting! Wishing you all the best on your upcoming wedding

HAHAHA, I just laughed so hard at that first part. Original title I made, isn't it? Feel free to take it when you do your report! We overlapped on most of trip also! How funny.

We're pin traders, but I hate the lanyard, so it's his job to wear it...princess pins and all!

I hope that your trip was as enjoyable as ours! I look forward to your report.

 

[Linda67]

Shame Chefs was a bit of a mixed bag

The food you ordered looks great and really simple to make so they just need to keep their eye on the quality a bit more by the sounds of it

 

[klacey1]

Sorry Chef's wasn't that great for you guys-- we're going in August and hope they're having an "on" night!

 

[Tinker12]

My DH and I went to Chef's once and it was not great. We decided on the apple crepe for dessert and could not take more than one bite. I think the chef left out an ingredient. We are not picky eaters! But the Onion soup was to die for!!!!

 

[amandadisney]

Shame Chefs was a bit of a mixed bag

The food you ordered looks great and really simple to make so they just need to keep their eye on the quality a bit more by the sounds of it

Parts of the meal were great, and the portions are definitely big for the price. I think it was just an off day! We'll still be back in the future...at least for the soups!

Sorry Chef's wasn't that great for you guys-- we're going in August and hope they're having an "on" night!

I am sure that it will be wonderful when you go! The ambiance and feeling of eating in Paris is worth it...even if it does end up being an off night.

My DH and I went to Chef's once and it was not great. We decided on the apple crepe for dessert and could not take more than one bite. I think the chef left out an ingredient. We are not picky eaters! But the Onion soup was to die for!!!!

I ditto on the soup! The lobster bisque was also delicious. I would go for just soups, for a lite lunch. Maybe hit up the pastry shop for dessert afterward...

 

[amandadisney]

We did a lot of running around today. I think we were on HS-Epcot boat three times. This is my "no more boating" face.

The lagoon view from the boat.

Eventually we settled down for dinner at GARDEN GRILL! Mickey greeted us before we even had our food.

The menu.

I will post the food pics and review in a few minutes.

 

[amandadisney]

Garden Grill was so much fun! We had a blast dining there. We were able to see all of the characters...most of them we saw 3,4, even 5 times. We just waved, but they were stopping at kids tables multiple times. The characters were: Mickey, Donald, Pluto, and Chip and Dale! We were there for Chip and Dale, as the are Don's favorites. But we both highly recommend this restaurant for the food, ambiance, and especially the character interaction.

If you have never been to GG, it is a revolving restaurant! It revolves through three scenes from the Living with the Land ride (one of my all-time favs). It also opens up into the Land Pavilion. We joked with our server about how she found us, since we were always in a different place. It seems they use the staircase pictures! EX: Oh there's the tomato staircase, my tables are just to the left.

We started off with rolls and maple butter. Soft yeast rolls and sourdough. Both served very warm, and the maple butter was sweet and delicious. I wanted to run away the basket and never come back!

We then had the AMAZING salad. I was seriously in love. It all comes from the greenhouse, and was amazingly fresh. It was also not over-dressed at all with the delicious ranch dressing. There were mixed greens, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, corn, bacon, and small cucumber dices. I would go back for this and the rolls alone.

My first plate of salad.

Pluto stopped by after the salad course.

Dinner comes all on one platter. First we have the strip loin over the smashed potatoes. This was AMAZING. The steak was flavorful and very juicy. The table behind us actual ordered there second plate of steak medium rare, and it came out pink and oozing flavor! The potatoes were creamy and had the nice addition of chives, which gave them a freshness.

Then we had the turkey over the stuffing, with gravy and cranberry chutney. The cranberries tasted weird, and I am not a cornbread stuffing fan - but it did have great flavor for stuffing. The turkey was so moist and tender. We had two servings of this. It blew the LT turkey out of the water in terms of juiciness.

Last we have citrus crusted Mahi Mahi over seasonal veggies. The veggies were amazing and cooked well, but are not my favorite assortment of veggies...and of course Don was more worried about the turkey! I tried the fish, and it was amazing. I just wasn't in a fishy mood, so this ended up being the only thing we didn't reorder.

CHIP! Chocolate chip...that's how you tell the noses apart!

Dessert came after our Chip visit. Our server also brought us a kids dessert to celebrate our engagement. How cute is it! It is a brownie with oreo whipped cream on top and two oreos. The main dessert is an apple current crisp with vanilla bean whipped cream. Sooooo good. I love the crispy top and the apples had that amazing dehydrated texture of being baked.

Crisp on a smaller scale. Aka my plate!

Here is where the big Liberty Tree comparison comes in. Because the meals are very similar. Both are family style, but GG is a few dollars more expensive, which makes sense considering the characters at GG. Both serve rolls with sweet butter, a mixed salad, turkey and steak, stuffing and mashed potatoes, and a crisp dessert. The only difference is the veggies, sub in fish for the LT ham, and no bad mac and cheese.

Here's the verdict:
TIE: bread and mashed potatoes (both were delicious)
LT win: veggies (the garlic green beans trumped the zucchini, which were still delicious.) stuffing (seriously, I want that stuffing for thanksgiving)
GG win: dessert (much, much better) meat (better cooked, and more flavor) salad (of course!)

If we had to choose again, we would hands down go Garden Grill. The meats were so much more flavorful, and juicy. We figure this is probably due to the smaller seating at GG. LT was still great for a MK day, but GG was seriously an excellent meal. And the character interaction was amazing!

 

[klacey1]

Ooo, girl , you might be swinging me in the GG direction instead of LTT for our August trip! I wanted a restaurant in MK, but that food looks delicious-- especially the steak!
Random weird question: I know at GG all of the food comes on one platter. At LTT, are things in separate bowls/plates? (Weird quirk of mine, prefer different foods not to touch each other!)

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Garden Grill was so much fun! We had a blast dining there. We were able to see all of the characters...most of them we saw 3,4, even 5 times. We just waved, but they were stopping at kids tables multiple times. The characters were: Mickey, Donald, Pluto, and Chip and Dale! We were there for Chip and Dale, as the are Don's favorites. But we both highly recommend this restaurant for the food, ambiance, and especially the character interaction.

If you have never been to GG, it is a revolving restaurant! It revolves through three scenes from the Living with the Land ride (one of my all-time favs). It also opens up into the Land Pavilion. We joked with our server about how she found us, since we were always in a different place. It seems they use the staircase pictures! EX: Oh there's the tomato staircase, my tables are just to the left.

We started off with rolls and maple butter. Soft yeast rolls and sourdough. Both served very warm, and the maple butter was sweet and delicious. I wanted to run away the basket and never come back!

We then had the AMAZING salad. I was seriously in love. It all comes from the greenhouse, and was amazingly fresh. It was also not over-dressed at all with the delicious ranch dressing. There were mixed greens, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, corn, bacon, and small cucumber dices. I would go back for this and the rolls alone.

My first plate of salad.

Pluto stopped by after the salad course.

Dinner comes all on one platter. First we have the strip loin over the smashed potatoes. This was AMAZING. The steak was flavorful and very juicy. The table behind us actual ordered there second plate of steak medium rare, and it came out pink and oozing flavor! The potatoes were creamy and had the nice addition of chives, which gave them a freshness.

Then we had the turkey over the stuffing, with gravy and cranberry chutney. The cranberries tasted weird, and I am not a cornbread stuffing fan - but it did have great flavor for stuffing. The turkey was so moist and tender. We had two servings of this. It blew the LT turkey out of the water in terms of juiciness.

Last we have citrus crusted Mahi Mahi over seasonal veggies. The veggies were amazing and cooked well, but are not my favorite assortment of veggies...and of course Don was more worried about the turkey! I tried the fish, and it was amazing. I just wasn't in a fishy mood, so this ended up being the only thing we didn't reorder.

CHIP! Chocolate chip...that's how you tell the noses apart!

Dessert came after our Chip visit. Our server also brought us a kids dessert to celebrate our engagement. How cute is it! It is a brownie with oreo whipped cream on top and two oreos. The main dessert is an apple current crisp with vanilla bean whipped cream. Sooooo good. I love the crispy top and the apples had that amazing dehydrated texture of being baked.

Crisp on a smaller scale. Aka my plate!

Here is where the big Liberty Tree comparison comes in. Because the meals are very similar. Both are family style, but GG is a few dollars more expensive, which makes sense considering the characters at GG. Both serve rolls with sweet butter, a mixed salad, turkey and steak, stuffing and mashed potatoes, and a crisp dessert. The only difference is the veggies, sub in fish for the LT ham, and no bad mac and cheese.

Here's the verdict:
TIE: bread and mashed potatoes (both were delicious)
LT win: veggies (the garlic green beans trumped the zucchini, which were still delicious.) stuffing (seriously, I want that stuffing for thanksgiving)
GG win: dessert (much, much better) meat (better cooked, and more flavor) salad (of course!)

If we had to choose again, we would hands down go Garden Grill. The meats were so much more flavorful, and juicy. We figure this is probably due to the smaller seating at GG. LT was still great for a MK day, but GG was seriously an excellent meal. And the character interaction was amazing!

I went to GG for the first time in years a couple weeks ago, and I am most definitely going back!!! The food was fantastic, and we got those Mickey Mousses too! We LOVED them! They were so cute and absolutely deeelisshh! The full review is in my TR, whose link is in my sig, but it was very similar to your experience. I fell in love with GG all over again and I am going back for sure!

 

[amandadisney]

Ooo, girl , you might be swinging me in the GG direction instead of LTT for our August trip! I wanted a restaurant in MK, but that food looks delicious-- especially the steak!
Random weird question: I know at GG all of the food comes on one platter. At LTT, are things in separate bowls/plates? (Weird quirk of mine, prefer different foods not to touch each other!)

I would definitely recommend GG over LTT. BUT, we are still HUGE LTT lovers. We go every trip. This was our first dinner, but I think the lunch is tops for the MK (although Crystal Palace is a yummy buffet.)

I TOTALLY understand the food not touching thing. I am on that boat myself..hence why I run the dishwasher like 80 times a week because I use a million dishes! LTT is more your style from that perspective. The rolls, salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy, dessert, and macaroni and cheese are in their own bowls. The meats are all piled on each other, and are on top of the stuffing. At GG the rolls, salad, and dessert are in their own bowls. The turkey, steak, and fish all come on a long platter. None are touching, but all are set on top of their sides. Turkey on the stuffing, steak on the potatoes, and fish on the veggies. I didn't find it too bad as the meats complimented the sides.

I still recommend GG over LTT, but if the food touching is an issue LTT is a great meal. We still loved it (minus the mac and cheese lol). Plus they serve the soda in awesome mugs! Either way, you will have so much fun at whatever restaurant you choose!

I went to GG for the first time in years a couple weeks ago, and I am most definitely going back!!! The food was fantastic, and we got those Mickey Mousses too! We LOVED them! They were so cute and absolutely deeelisshh! The full review is in my TR, whose link is in my sig, but it was very similar to your experience. I fell in love with GG all over again and I am going back for sure!

I know!! We had a blast the whole time, and the food was probably our best overall meal. I think its tops of all the family style restaurants...and I am pretty sure we have been to them all. So glad to know others appreciate GG as much as we did! We'll be back many times.

 

[Linda67]

The Garden Grill looks fantastic and somewhere I had never considered before

It's so cool that the salad and veggies were fresh from the living with the land attraction

 

[alliebelle3]

Just found your dining review report and loving it! Congratulations on your engagement. I hope to have a Disney Wedding someday, too

I know you said you've gone to LTT for lunch...how is it compared to dinner? I was thinking of trying it on my trip in November, but haven't heard much about it.

Looking forward to more reviews!

 

[amandadisney]

The Garden Grill looks fantastic and somewhere I had never considered before

It's so cool that the salad and veggies were fresh from the living with the land attraction

I think it gets lost with all the other great options at Epcot. We were definitely pleasantly surprised at the quality. Now its just going to be even harder to decide where to eat in Epcot!

Just found your dining review report and loving it! Congratulations on your engagement. I hope to have a Disney Wedding someday, too

I know you said you've gone to LTT for lunch...how is it compared to dinner? I was thinking of trying it on my trip in November, but haven't heard much about it.

Looking forward to more reviews!

Thanks!

We love LTT for lunch. It's pretty much the only restaurant we plan every trip. It's not the most amazing place in the World for gourmet food, but its tops for MK restaurants. There is a great ambiance in the restaurant, and it has a great location between Fantasyland and the Splash Mountain/Big Thunder area. The food is also great for lunch.

You have to try the tavern fried cheese (mozz. sticks and fried white cheddar) and the AMAZING toffee cake dessert. The entrees are also priced well (basically just a little above a counter service lunch, which is great pricing to get a more relaxed lunch) and very comforting food.

If you're in the MK, I highly recommend LTT for lunch. Dinner-wise, I almost think you get better bang for your buck at Crystal Palace. Its about the same price, plus you get the Pooh characters and one of the best buffets on property. But the LTT dinner was good, but I think Crystal Palace is better.

Here's the LTT lunch menu from disneyworld.com in case you are interested.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/me...TreeTavern/liberty-tree-tavern-menu-lunch.pdf

 

[amandadisney]

Le Cellier might be the love of my life (sorry Don)...at least in terms of Epcot restaurants. It's not even that the food is the most amazing you will ever have, but it is great quality and quantity for the price. Plus it is in a beautiful setting...very romantic for a restaurant in the park. I am, however, interested in seeing how this changes when the LC moves to a signature dinner in March. I wonder if they will change the menu and plus it up? Either way, we can't wait for our next trip!

We had lunch at LC this trip. Couldn't get the dinner ressie...but I wasn't expecting much since I tried for the dinner about 3 months out, and knew the ressies would be gone. But LC is great for lunch also! They still have everyone's favorite mushroom filet, but they also have a full lunch menu. We went with the prix fixe menu again.

I tried something new...aka I had to make myself think that I didn't need cheese soup to survive. But I am so glad I made a change! I had the chicken sausage over polenta. The polenta was creamy and very sweet. The chicken sausage was moist, and it had great flavor. The greens on top added a nice bitterness. It will definitely be hard to choose apps in the future.

Don had the cheddar cheese soup. He has only tasted mine in the past, but he ended up loving this as a bread dip. You heard me...he just used this as an accompaniment to his bread.

I tried something new for the main course. To be honest, I have never had the mushroom filet because that is Don's area. But the other steaks are amazing. No steaks on the prix fixe menu, so I went vegetarian with the gnocchi in pesto broth with eggplant and tomatoes. Why did I do veggies at a steak house? It was not my best choice. The gnocchi were amazing by themselves (and I am a gnocchi lover). But the pesto broth was weird and so heavy! Think the olive oil drained from pesto, and imagine a huge bowl of it. It was just too rich for me despite the amazing taste of the gnocchi. BTW the picture doesn't show the broth...but once I broke the surface, the broth was there!

Don had the LC burger. I know it had proscuitto, white cheddar, and bbq sauce...but I can't remember the rest. The burger itself was amazing! I hate burgers, but the meat was flavored so well. But he forgot that he hates strong cheddar, so he didn't end up eating much of this. But seriously...look how big and amazing this burger looks!

I choose the chocolate moose for dessert. I can't resist! It is too cute! The "moose" is rich and creamy, and coated in chocolate cookie crumbs!

Don tried the maple creme brulee. I don't like creme brulee, but I made sure to check that it had a nice crisp top. Don demonstrated the cracking crust! And wiped the bowl clean, so I assume it was good!

Overall, if you haven't been to LC...GO! GO NOW! It might not be the best food on property, but it is a hidden gem. It's nice to get lost in a beautiful setting for a few hours.

 

[amandadisney]

Here are all the pics I took when we saw the new parade at HS. The Pixar Pals Cavalcade replaced Block Party Bash. We saw BPB once, and bits and pieces of it many times. I am not ashamed to admit that a drill sergeant called me out the day we watched it because I wasn't excited enough. I had on those bright blue, glittery, mickey mouse head springy headband.

Caught on tape is this: Sergeant blue, sergeant blue! Un-cross your arms! (Insert a green army man yelling and pointing at me)

But the new parade has the addition of the Ratatouille and UP characters. I absolutely loved both movies, and it is nice to see the characters recognized. Enjoy the pictures!

 

[amandadisney]

Second half of the parade...including the new characters!

All in all, a cute little parade!

 

[amandadisney]

Don and I were so stuffed from Le Cellier and tired from running around the parks that we decided to cancel our Hollywood Brown Derby ressies. WHYYY? Looking back on this, I wish we had just gone in for grapefruit cake! Of course, I ended up being hungry at the time we were scheduled to eat, so I made Don stop at the Backlot Express.

I had a buffalo chicken sandwich, hold the lettuce. I have a weird thing about lettuce on sandwiches...

The sandwich was actually HUGE! The chicken breast was enormous. The bread was very good. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. I was surprised! The chicken was breaded well, but a little soggy from mass production. It had no buffalo spice on it...the spice came from the sauce, which I wish had been a little spicier! Overall, it was a nice change of pace and very filling!

Look how big!

 

[jess20k]

I am so loving your reviews! Thanks for sharing! Your review and pics from Garden Grill look amazing! We have never dined there, and I have always wanted to, but end up not going. But, I think I am going to find a spot for it during our upcoming trip in May/June.

By the way, I'm not sure if you know for sure, but are the salads always made from the vegetables from the greenhouses from Living with the Land?

 

[klacey1]

Thanks for the parade pictures!! I love all of the Pixar movies, so this parade looks like a must-do!