Afternoon Tea Question

[Tiggerific04]

I've done the afternoon tea at the GF twice before, but both times were pre-packages when you could order a la carte. Does anyone know if an adult would be able to order the child's tea package? DH does not do tea at all, but he thinks the ham and cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk sound perfect

 

[MichVick]

My friends and I went to the afternoon tea last September and we were not able to order a la carte. But I also am not a tea drinker and was able to order the mrs. potts tea which is the kids meal, I subbed the chocolate milk for diet coke and he even put it in a little teapot with ice for me lol

 

[ConnieB]

You can order ala carte to ADD things to your prepackaged tea. For example, we always order the Buckingham Palace, which is tea, sandwiches, scones/tart and a dessert. But my girls always want a second dessert and I always want a second scone/tart. So we pay for 3 BP, 2 extra desserts and an extra scone.

They will not let you go in however and order just tea and a scone. Reason probably was because so many people found tea/scone to be a relaxing way to spend an hour or two. I remember often seeing someone relaxing with a book and a teapot. I'm guessing Disney did away with the "only ala carte" to avoid these. Sad...but spending $10 and staying for an hour is bad for business and considering how few they can serve each day anyway.....well, sad, but understandable. Hopefully whatever this "renovation" they're doing for the next few months will expand the size!

So...yes, hubby can have his ham and chocolate milk...and order a few more nibbles than the Mrs Potts children's tea actually provides if he'd like. The nice thing is the chocolate milk comes in a tea pot so no one need know he's drinking chocolate milk, lol.

 

[ElizabethB]

Any nicety gets removed as soon as the bottom-liners find it.

 

[ConnieB]

Any nicety gets removed as soon as the bottom-liners find it.

Hmmm, I understand your point, but I don't think that's really fair. Every restaurant, even casual sit downs, have a need to turn over tables to make room for the next guest. A common complaint for restaurants is that people feel they are getting the "bum's rush" when their dessert or coffee arrive and a moment later so does the check....and the waitstaff come around to let you know they can take your payment "whenever you're ready". They want to get you out, clean your table and fill it with fresh paying customers.

The average time we have spent at the Tea probably is fairly close to 75 to 90 minutes.....yeah an hour and a half. But we also spend over $100. Why wouldn't they prefer to have my party sitting at their tables over the lady with the book and a $6 pot of tea and $5 worth of food. Afternoon tea is meant to be a social time, brought about by the Duchess of Bedford in the 1840 (though the court royals had Afternoon Tea for a century before the rest of us). It wasn't meant for one person to read a book. Yes, in a perfect world there would be no rushing for customers to pay their dinner check and everyone could sit at a table for 2 hours and spend only $15.

If all you want is tea and some pastries while you read your book, there are places for that....bakeries with tables or to go, or even room service. If you want Afternoon Tea it is meant as a social time, bring friends, talk and eat!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

both times were pre-packages when you could order a la carte.
. . . no longer
. . . neither can one person order a package and "share" with another person to avoid buying another package
. . . each guest MUST order a package
. . . you can ADD ala carte to a package, but NOT SUBSTITUTE ala carte for a package
. . . too many folks came in and just ordered Tea and Scones
. . . WDW can't make enough profit on such orders
. . . especially when the folks occupy the table for 60-120 minutes

Does anyone know if an adult would be able to order the child's tea package?
. . . nope
. . . at least not in January when we were there

DH does not do tea at all, but he thinks the ham and cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk sound perfect.
. . . he can substitute coffee or milk for Tea within a package
. . . but, the kid's package is too cheap
. . . Disney wants more cash and profit.

 

[jdmn2010]

I was just there in April for the first time and I learned that we could not order a la carte. BUT, they are flexible with substitutions. You can substitute any adult sandwich for a child's choice of sandwich if you want. I made some substitutes and ended up with a mixture of some sandwiches from the adult list and some off the child's list. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the sandwich choices that I wasn't sure I would like so your DH may be too!

 

[ElizabethB]

If you subscribe to the Wall Street business view that every table must be turned rapidly and every table must generate the maximum amount of revenue or the patron must be booted from the premises, then yes -- Disney did absolutely the right thing in deciding that one must order a full tea or get out of the restaurant.

I returned recently from two years' living in Europe and it is totally different there. You can walk into a restaurant, order a cup of coffee and sit there for hours. You will never be asked to leave and you will never even be asked if you would like your check. You will never receive a check until you request it.

Dh and I have had afternoon tea at GF more times than either of us can count. And, I have never seen anyone with a book and a pot of tea. But, honestly, it doesn't seem to be the end of the world if I did. We often see empty tables in the tea room. We always order the full tea, so it makes no difference to me whether a la carte is available. But, honestly, I sometimes wonder if there is one inch in the entire 45 square miles of WDW that isn't gone over with a fine tooth comb by the bottom-liners determined to squeeze one more thin dime out of the facilities. It gets really tiresome.

Dh and I once went to a park restaurant (which shall remain nameless) in a WDW park (which shall also remain nameless). We each ordered a rum sidecar with our drinks. And, we were absolutely shocked at the very generous pour of rum in a nice snifter that each of us received at a surprisingly inexpensive price. We looked at each other and laughed, noting that we should enjoy this because as soon as it is discovered that this WDW restaurant is serving up generous pours of rum for a decent price, it will be stopped.

Everything is not always about the almighty dollar (or I guess I should say Euro because in the U.S. it truly does seem that everything is about the almightly dollar).

Fascinating to learn if a patron orders a pot of tea and a scone that "WDW can't make enough profit on such orders". Really? I mean, really? One of the largest entertainment conglomerates on planet Earth and WDW can't make sufficient profit if a person orders just a pot of tea and a scone?

It's at this point that I'm inclined to say, I'm done with tea at WDW. I'll head to Peacock Alley at the Orlando Waldorf where one actually can still order a cup of tea, read a good book and not be bothered, thank heavens.

And, afternoon tea developed as a way to put something in the tummy because the Duchess got hungry between lunch and dinner (dinner often not starting until 10 pm). It can be social, but also is often solitary. Lady Margery often had tea by herself at 4 pm in the library on Upstairs Downstairs.