From England To OKW - 14 Nights On DDP COMPLETED LOTS OF FOOD PICS 2/3/2011

[dixonsontour]

This was our last full day at WDW. We had a reservation for perfectly princess tea party at the Grand Floridian but I had called the night before and moved it to our very last day as I was worried DD would be sick and not be able to go.

Thankfully DD seemed fine today.

We went to Earl of Sandwich at DTD for breakfast. Our first time trying breakfast there. DH had a breakfast sandwich with egg. I had a BLT and they made DD a plain ham one so she was happy. The breakfast sandwiches are smaller than the regular sandwiches.

We got orange juice and coffee to drink. The coffee was good – not the usual counter service coffee. DD got 2% fat milk. DH got a filled brownie, DD had a cup of grapes and me a cup of fruit.

We all enjoyed this breakfast and will be back. It opens at 8.30am so before WPE.

DH was pleased they had HP sauce. He said it wasn’t quite the same as UK but still good on a breakfast butty.

Cost 3 cs credits.

We spent some time in the pool then shopping. DH and DD went off and did some more shopping whilst I had a pedicure. When they collected me DD was so excited. They had been to McDonalds (or old macdonalds as she calls it) and she had a happy meal. According to DD it was just like England! The happy meal came in a plastic Halloween pail that she spent ages decorating.

DH and I went to pepper market at Coronado springs. It was a late lunch, 2.30 ish so it was quiet. The lady on the podium and the server both explained how it worked. We were given a card each and a menu. A server took our orders- 2 cokes. I went to the grill and ordered the quesadillas and a burrito. The chef stamped our cards then I went back a few minutes later to collect the food. It was fresh and hot. We both enjoyed it.

For dessert we chose 2 bowls of ice cream. The cakes in the bakery did look good but we were too full.

The server was really sweet and brought DD a juice and some Oreos. I did explain that DD had just eaten at MCdonalds (I wonder if she thought we were being horrible not feeding DD!)

The card said a 10% service charge will be added but at the till the cashier said DDP was exempt so we paid 2 cs credits and I left a tip on the table for server.

Dinner was at Olivia’s at our resort OKW.

I had not made an adr, but they were able to seat us straight away. This was an extra meal as a result of having extra credits due to the coral reef fiasco. Another English mum I chatted to at the pool was saying it was nice and they had eaten there a few times so we gave it a whirl.

The decor was nice but casual. DD coloured a picture and they put it on the wall which was a nice touch. The food though was our worst TS meal. I think we ordered badly. I would go again but for breakfast.

I had a strawberry milkshake as my DDP drink. Server was just about ok – never brought me water, didn’t chat at all. DH had coke.

I had the mahi mahi with marmalade glaze and mashed boniato. The fish was a frozen square filet in breadcrumbs. It tasted like a frozen value range filet with marmalade. There was just a scoop of what tasted like cold lumpy mash. The frisee was just a tiny bit.

DH’s steak was a very poor cut and tough. They did sub the sauce for the bbq as DH hates mushrooms. DD had pizza which she ate.

DH loved his key lime pie dessert and ate most of mine as well. It was more like lemon meringue pie but lime flavour than true key lime pie. We’ve been to the keys several times and had award winning real key lime pie. This wasn’t.

DD had the usual make your own ice cream sundae for the 100th time this trip.

Overall a big letdown.

Used our last 3 TS credits.

 

[dixonsontour]

We had a late night trying and failing to pack all our things and many purchases in our luggage. Then DH had to get up at 6am as he needed to dash to walmart to buy another suitcase!

We did eat a light breakfast in the room before checking out.

We then did the Virgin Airlines check in at DTD. The line was long and I was worried we would be late for our 10.30 adr but we made it in plenty of time.

I changed DD into her princess dress at the Grand Floridian and we went to the perfectly princess tea party.

See next posts for my review of the tea party.

DH was able to watch her go in and be scattered with petals and joined in at the end as she went around the lobby. For the in between bit he had steak and eggs at GF cafe whilst reading a newspaper on his ipad. It was very civilized. He said this was good, but the steak was too well cooked for his taste – as it was a thin cut he would have been better ordering one level down from usual.

Our final meal on Disney property was at House of Blues. Our first time there and only tried it due to the restaurant.com certificate. Think I paid $2 for a $25 dollar discount certificate. Terms were min $35 spend inc drinks and automatic 18% tip added.

DD had a pizza. This was huge and really good – thin crust. DH ate a lot of it. 2 or 3 small children could easily share.

I had the Elwood chicken sandwich with fries. The fries were very salty and stringy type fries which I wasn’t keen on. The sandwich was good. DH had a philly cheese steak sandwich with pasta salad. He enjoyed this. All of us had soda. Think we paid just over $20 including tip. Server was very happy to accept the coupon, no problem at all.

Dinner – before leaving for the airport I got us three Earl of sandwich sandwiches for the plane – an Italian, a holiday and a ham and three filled brownies - 1 vanilla and two peanut butter.

The plane food was inedible (grey chicken korma) so with great pleasure I got out the sandwiches. Cold, they were not a patch on the usual standard but a million percent better than the plane food!

The brownies in their plastic containers made it back to the UK beautifully and were eaten over the next couple of days. They are really rich but very tasty especially the peanut butter.

 

[dixonsontour]

This isn’t one of the well known character meals and when I was looking to make reservations, reviews were hard to find.

I took my daughter Anna on Friday 29th October 2010. The tea party takes place several times a week at the Garden View tea room at the Grand Floridian from 10.30 am – 12pm.

Reservations open 180 days out and must be made by telephone, not online. I reserved about 160 days out.

When I phoned, the cm tried to tell me nothing available. I couldn’t believe it was fully booked for the whole 14 days of our trip and asked her to try again – I don’t think she was familiar with it. Well she did and it was available.

Payment is made at time of booking. The cost was $250 for one adult and one child plus tax but including gratuity. I believe an extra child or adult can be added for extra cost. The event is very much geared up as a mom and daughter event.

I actually ended up moving our reservation from the Thursday to the Friday. My daughter wasn’t 100% and I wanted her to be for this. The cm on the phone was able to do this the evening before we were due to attend.

Due to the cost I’d thought alot about attending this event. My DD was age 4.9 years on this trip. But she is mature for her age and very tall (47 inches) – people often think she is 6. She loves dressing up and princess things and I don’t know when our next trip will be or how long this stage will last. I was worried if I left it a couple of years she would miss the magic of it. She started full time school the month before so this was also a treat to recognise how well she has done. With hindsight I think she was the perfect age for her to go.

As you will see from the pictures Anna was born without her left arm below her elbow. Alot of our Mom and daughter time is taken up with hospital and therapy appointments. I wanted to do something special on this trip that we or at least I would always remember.

My DD was so excited to attend this tea party. I’d bought her a dress to wear at the party before we left England, shown her clips on youtube and in the months leading up to we had talked alot about it. Did it live up to the hype? We both really enjoyed the tea party and it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

We got to the garden view tea room at 10.15am or so and checked in at the podium. We were not on the list! There was a spot but they wanted me to pay. The confusion was soon sorted out and a female manger came to see me to assure me we were paid in full.

DD was given a card saying princess Anna and all the moms and princesses stood waiting to be called.

My DH was able to stand next to the rope and video DD getting crowned and going in to the tea party and see her in the parade after. He ate breakfast at the GF cafe – steak and eggs much more his sort of thing.

Rosepetal introduced herself and called each girl in turn. She called Princess Anna and placed a crown on her head and another lady sprinked her with fresh rose petals.

There were 8 girls altogether. Most were in mom/daughter pairs. The table next to me had two sisters with their mom and grandma. One table had 3 adults including the only Dad, a daughter and two young boys. The boys did get a little impatient sitting and didn’t join in any of the activities. They were given bears not dolls.

We were taken to our table overlooking the garden. The chair was pulled out for DD and a doll was sitting there. She was hesitant to sit and afterwards she said to me but the doll was sitting there.

I’d brought two clips to hold the crown in place and was so glad I did. They were just the pink mickey clips you get in any gift shop but were perfect. Only a couple of the girl’s crowns stayed on. The crown was a pretty beaded circlet with ribbons tied to it but it had no combs.

About half the girls were dressed in princess dresses, a mix of princesses – I think they were all someone different. Only one girl had been to BBB before the party.

Anna loved the doll and was in awe of the whole thing. Fresh flowers were on the table, pink napkins, a little card saying Princess Anna of the Hollyhocks.
We were introduced to Baron Branch the pianist. He came to the table shortly after and spoke to DD and signed her autograph book.

Rose petal then told her story about who she was. The gist was she was a Rose who had been magically turned human.

The girls were told to put their napkins on their lap and a bracelet was folded into the napkin which surprised my DD. It was just a play quality bracelet – silver coloured with a plastic pink heart but DD wanted it put on straightaway.

We were brought tea. I was given a pot, cup and tea strainer. I was poured a cup and then the pot was put under a tea cosy. It was served without milk or lemon – i’ve never had tea without milk but it was very pleasant and hot – can’t stand lukewarm tea. I didn’t think to ask what blend it was.
DD was delighted with her apple juice in a tea pot.

Rose petal asked some princess questions and the older girls hands shot up. The two girls at the table next to us were maybe 8 and 9 and very enthusiastic. They were also very sweet to my DD telling her she had the prettiest dress (they were in park clothes-too old for dress up I guess)
I also remember having to put our hands up if we were in love and rose petal said she was in love with a purple tulip.

Food was served to us plated up. Anna got a plate with 3 heart shaped jelly sandwiches, 2 turkey and cheese on brown bread and some fruit. I had asked for no peanut butter when I booked – I think they should have been peanut butter and jelly. She ate half a sandwich – far too enthralled by what was going on!

On my plate there was a coronation chicken sandwich, salmon and cream cheese sandwich and egg sandwich. There were some crackers and cheese with herbs, a tartlet with stilton and some grapes and fruit. I enjoyed this and ate it all but it definitely would not suit a pickier eater. The food was obviously pre plated some time in advance – one cracker was soft from sitting on the cheese but the food did taste fresh.

Rose petal sang and told the story of Sleeping beauty with actions for the girls to copy. At one point she had them cradling their dolls. All the girls I could see joined in enthralled. Rosepetal did come around the room several times whilst she was singing, involving all the girls.

Rose petal asked about birthdays, 3 girls raised their hands and said their name and age and were wished happy birthday. There was a 5 yr old and two 7 year olds.

The cake we had seen at the entrance to the room was held up then taken to be cut and served to us with cream, a strawberry and strawberry coulis. The cake was lovely – really fresh sponge with strawberry filling. DD had one bite I fed her – too busy to eat!

One lovely little girl, who had a make a wish button, was chosen to help Rosepetal teach us some sign language – hail to the king, hail to the queen, hail to the princess Aurora! I keep hearing my DD singing this.

Rosepetal had all the girls come up and stand with her then Aurora arrived. The girls followed her around the room in a parade – waving and holding their dresses.

 

[dixonsontour]

The girls were then told to wait in their seats to see Aurora.

Just before Aurora came her Page spoke to DD then handed Aurora a fresh pink rose to give DD. It had a lovely scent. She spent a few minutes with each girl, posed for photos and signed autographs.

Aurora left after seeing each girl. She was probably there 15-20 minutes of the party.

Rosepetal came to each table and signed autographs – she asked for song requests and Baron Branch played mine from The Little Mermaid – kiss the girl which DD was excited about.

At the end they announced a parade through the lobby then up the main staircase of the Grand Floridian.

Take a bag as you now have an autograph book, camera, doll, doll’s wand and DD’s crown, place cards etc. I removed the doll’s shoes so Anna didn’t lose them carrying the doll.

Rosepetal hugged each girl goodbye at the door.

An employee from GF then lead all the girls around foyer with parents following like paparazzi taking pictures! My DH and a few other dads joined in.

The girls went up main staircase and had a photopass photo taken and a group photo. I was able to get these added to my photopass card at the photopass desk next to the gift shop after the party – I’d already prepaid the photopass cd for this trip.

The parade then went into the gift shop where each girl waited in line at a small desk. Another cm asked them the doll’s name and wrote a birth certificate. DD’s doll is called Rosie Sunshine.

They do sell clothes for the doll but they were further back – they weren’t so tacky to put them on the desk. The clothes cost $24.95-29.95 each. They also sell them at the toy store at DTD.

And that was the end of the party!


I’m glad we did it, I got some beautiful photos of DD and I will always remember it. I had a tear in my eye going in – I thought back to the day she was born and how worried we were about her and how far we have come.

I’d recommend it best for age 5-7. This seemed to be the main age of girls at the party. They need to be able to sit and listen for 1 hour and follow direction.

The older girls enjoyed it but for the younger ones you could see how magical it was. DD truely believes she had tea with a Rose who was magically turned into a human and the real sleeping beauty.

 

[dixonsontour]

THE END

Thanks for reading along.

I spent a lot of time reading all the reviews on here before making our adr's and choices and wanted to return the favour. Hope you enjoyed my first ever dining review.

 

[Disneyhayes]

Your review had me thinking that it is very much possible to do the DDP and forgo the DxDP. i was thinking that CS meant burgers and chicken nuggets but I am not very bright to think that be the case at WDW. Good of you to show us all of your wonderful memories.

 

[Belle5]

Your Tea Party pics are beyond amazing. I wanted to find a smiley that had a face smiling with tears dripping, but, there isn't one. That was me reading your report all teary-eyed. Thank you for sharing your princess with us. Thank you, too, for the work you put into your report. It was very helpful!

 

[MrsJobba1]

What a great review-many thanks for writing it!
It was helpful as we make our Adrs next week!

 

[dixonsontour]

Your review had me thinking that it is very much possible to do the DDP and forgo the DxDP. i was thinking that CS meant burgers and chicken nuggets but I am not very bright to think that be the case at WDW. Good of you to show us all of your wonderful memories.

CS is certainly not all burgers if you know where to look. We were a lot more clued up this trip about options thanks to all the info on here.

 

[dixonsontour]

Your Tea Party pics are beyond amazing. I wanted to find a smiley that had a face smiling with tears dripping, but, there isn't one. That was me reading your report all teary-eyed. Thank you for sharing your princess with us. Thank you, too, for the work you put into your report. It was very helpful!

Thank you for reading along

 

[dalepool]

Well now you went and did it . Showing my 3 year old grand daughter the dress your daughter wore to the 2011 Tea Party I now need to find that exact dress any hints?

I have tried to talk her in to other princess dresses but even at 3 she is very picky.

She actually has 6-8 princess dresses I got on sale or at garage sales. She loves to play dress up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

From a grandma in need

Patty

 

[dixonsontour]

What a great review-many thanks for writing it!
It was helpful as we make our Adrs next week!

Glad you found it helpful - I know a lot of UK diser's are getting ready for their August adrs. Hope you get what you want

 

[dixonsontour]

Well now you went and did it . Showing my 3 year old grand daughter the dress your daughter wore to the 2011 Tea Party I now need to find that exact dress any hints?

I have tried to talk her in to other princess dresses but even at 3 she is very picky.

She actually has 6-8 princess dresses I got on sale or at garage sales. She loves to play dress up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

From a grandma in need

Patty

I bought the dress in a sale in England. I've found the same dress on ebay.co.uk - if you search lilac petal princess ballgown you should find it.

Thanks for reading, have a wonderful trip

 

[monica23535]

I really enjoyed reading this, your daughter is gorgeous!

We ate at many of the same places in Oct/Nov last year during our stay so it was nice to reminisce.

The tea party looks and sounds amazing, wonder if I can convince DS who is 4.6years to go on our next trip lol

 

[PHILCT]

Wonderful Report, Thank You for all the work you put into it for all of us to see.

Your daughter is beautiful, and you are too for being such a wonderful Mom.

 

[Linda67]

What a fantastic set of reviews

Your photos from the tea party are just beautiful and I am sure this will be a really useful review for many people trying to find out more about this event

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this

 

[darthtatty]

well done on finishing. lots of great pics and reviews

 

[NikkiMouse]

What a great report, lovely way to spend a quiet Friday morning when it's raining outside!

Your photos are stunning and your daughter is gorgeous. I especially like the one of her cuddling Minnie wearing her own Minnie dress, I guess it's because I have one very much like it of my DD on her 5th Birthday in DLRP.

Those memories are so precious

I admit I did tear up reading about The Princess Tea party, you probably got the age just right, magical enough for her to believe in the Princesses and old enough to hold on to that memory for life

Thanks again for writing the report, definitely given me some 'food for thought'

 

[MishyMouse]

Great reviews! Your daughter is beautiful. Thank you so much for the detailed review of the tea party. I want to do the party for my daughter next year when she will be 5. It looks like so much fun.

 

[amanda40]

What a great thread!!!

We go on Tuesday but staying off resort so not DDP for us - wondering now if I have made a big mistake!!!

But I loved your reviews, epseicailly the Princess Tea Party , brought a tear to my eye too - Your daughter is gorgeous and looked like she had a wonderful time - What a great Mum you are!!

I have 2 boys , so will be doing the pirate versions.

Thanks for sharing