Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Lounge

[mcbj]

I just got back from two weeks at Disney and Central Florida, slept most of the flight home, don't feel like unpacking and am about to sink into PDD, so I thought I would share my thoughts on our Afternoon Tea at the GF!

DD's 10th birthday was this past Monday June 16th, and I thought tea would be a nice addition to the birthday festivities we had planned! DD and I had been to tea at the GF before, I took her to the My Perfectly Princess Tea Party back in October 2008, here are some pictures:







I am still new at this photobucket thing, so I will post this now to see if it worked, fingers crossed!

 

[mcbj]

Success! Moving on, I scheduled our tea for 2:00 at about 120 days out. Once I made our fast pass selections at 60 days, I was thrilled to get an Anna and Elsa meet and greet for 12:30-1:30, so I was a bit nervous about making it to tea, especially after I heard about the long wait times and wasn't sure how long ours would take. I tried to change our tea time to 2:30, called and checked the website at least 15 times, but to my surprise they were booked solid that day. So 2:00 it was and if we were late we would deal with it. Our meet and greet went smooth and we were at the front of MK by 1:15, so we stopped at town hall and got a fourth FP then exited the park. I have stayed at the GF before an was aware of the boat and as we were walking to the monorail we saw the boat approaching and decided to go that route. Here we are waiting for the boat and DD on the boat.

 

[mcbj]

Once we arrived we were seated promptly at a table in the back left corner by the window, great location and DD was thrilled to have the booth seat.



There were a couple other parties seated including two bridal parties, but the room was only about 1/3 full, but that quickly changed and when I glanced around later it was full.

 

[mcbj]

We met our server Doty quickly and were presented with the menu.



I should preface this review by saying I am not actually a tea drinker, I don't drink coffee either so I am not really a hot beverage drinker, but I do like iced tea. It was super hot out so I asked if we could have some glasses of ice with our tea which Doty was happy to accommodate. I ordered the Grand Tea without the wine, it was $25. For my tea I got the seasonal strawberry green tea. DD got the Mrs. Potts tea, it was $13 and is served with chocolate milk, or tea for an additional $3, DD wanted tea but Doty didn't charge us for her tea. We also ordered the English Cheese Plate for $17, DD loves cheese and we had not eaten lunch so we were pretty hungry.

 

[mcbj]

Now my day of travel is hitting me! Heading to bed, to be continued...

 

[mcbj]

Our tea and sandwiches were served about ten minutes after ordering.



The tea was very light in color, it was very flavorful, I ended up drinking the whole pot! After my first cup, I poured a glass over ice and then had two more cups hot, it was light and very refreshing. My sandwiches right to left were watercress, egg salad, salmon salad, curried chicken salad and pear and Gorgonzola cheese which was my favorite! I don't like egg salad, but took a small bite to make sure there wasn't something special about this, but I didn't like this either. I was also served a small onion tart, which was wonderful, I love caramelized onions.



DD was served three sandwiches tuna salad, ham and cheese and peanut butter and jelly. She doesn't like tuna salad, so I ate that one.

 

[mcbj]

Next up was our cheese plate.



The cheeses counterclockwise from center were Boursin, two types of Cheddar, Sage, Stilton and a Mushroom Brie. Our favorites were the Boursin, Stilton and Cheddar. Neither of us cared for the Sage and although I love Mushrooms, the Brie was a little bland. My only complaint about the cheese tray or the whole tea in general was the crackers, they were basic club and ritz style crackers. I thought we might be served something more unique, not something I have in my pantry at home.

 

[darthtatty]

My 40th birthday was on June 16th

great review, im not a tea drinker either. So have never really considered having the afternoon tea.
I totally agree about the crackers, there are so many varieties. Its a shame they choose something basic.

 

[mcbj]

My 40th birthday was on June 16th

great review, im not a tea drinker either. So have never really considered having the afternoon tea.
I totally agree about the crackers, there are so many varieties. Its a shame they choose something basic.

Happy Birthday! Mine is July 16th! DD and I consider 16 our lucky/favorite number!

 

[mcbj]

After the cheese we were served a raisin scone and berry tart, both were delicious. The scone was served with three spreads, From the left Lemon Curd, Devonshire Cream (similar to butter and according to our server is imported from England) and Strawberry Jam, the Jam was my favorite.

 

[mcbj]

At this point I was becoming full and thought we were done, but DD remembered seeing on the menu it listed a choice of two pastries. I told her I thought the scone and tart were our pastries, but sure enough our server came over with a tray and we each could select two. I selected the Banana Cake and let DD select three, she also picked the Banana Cake and two Chocolate Covered Strawberries. There were two other choices, a cream puff and a chocolate swan filled with some type of cream, but I don't like anything creamy so those did not appeal to me.

 

[mcbj]

We paid our bill which came to $69.58 with the recommended gratuity of $11/20%. My tea was $25, DDs was $13 and the cheese plate was $17. We both really enjoyed the tea, we were very full when we left. We were there one hour and forty minutes, and were quickly back at the MK via monorail. Tea was a nice break from the park on a hot day. Without the cheese plate you could probably finish in just over an hour, but DD and I were enjoying the conversation and were in no rush. I would HIGHLY recommend it and hope to be back soon.

 

[CaliTex]

Thanks for the review, I was wondering how this would be for my DD, DGD and I...sounds like fun and I agree about the crackers, although the cheese looks wonderful. That kind of meal is just my "cup of tea".

And isn't it is amazing how much differently tea brewed properly tastes from how we Americans do tea... <---my British friends on my attempt to make tea for them... "You used BAGS?" and "Please, dear, the water has to actually BOIL!"

Your DD is lovely.

 

[jesswindsor]

Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Niki Andiokno]

June 16th is my birthday too. I would love to do tea on my birthday. Nice review.

 

[mcbj]

June 16th is my birthday too. I would love to do tea on my birthday. Nice review.

Do it! DD had such a great day celebrating her birthday at Disney!

 

[mcbj]

Thanks for the review, I was wondering how this would be for my DD, DGD and I...sounds like fun and I agree about the crackers, although the cheese looks wonderful. That kind of meal is just my "cup of tea".

And isn't it is amazing how much differently tea brewed properly tastes from how we Americans do tea... <---my British friends on my attempt to make tea for them... "You used BAGS?" and "Please, dear, the water has to actually BOIL!"

Your DD is lovely.

I am sure you all would love it! I was surprised how light the tea was, but soooo flavorful, I never expected to drink the whole pot!

 

[mcbj]

Thanks for sharing!!!

Thanks! This is one I planned to write before I left, there is so few reviews and info about the tea on here.

 

[fernfritters]

Great review! I'm really hoping to do this on my next trip. I studied in London for a semester a long time ago, so I love afternoon teas! Thanks for sharing. Your daughter looks so grown up

 

[gericoronado]

Thank you so much for sharing this very sweet and intimate tea party with the us online. I greatly enjoyed reading the details and looking over the food/beverage photos. Personally, I'm not a tea-drinker but this report makes me want to try it!