Garden Grill opinions please

[decker96]

This is one place I am considering for our upcoming October trip. Mostly because I am looking for another character meal. We are also planning on doing the Cape May breakfast (staying at YC) and the Storybook Princess lunch.

I have heard and read mixed reviews on the food and character interaction, so I'm looking for opinions. We are not too picky on food, as long as it's hot and tastes decent, we're fine. Not looking for anything gourmet.

Also, I know the restaurant turns and while this is not really noticeable to most people, my DD11 does get occasional motion sickness. It's mostly just when flying, but she has also gotten it in the car if we are on a particularly curvy or hilly road. She will not go on rides like the Teacups because she is afraid she will get sick (although she has never tried, so she doesn't know for sure), but does fine on merry-go-rounds or ferris wheels. I just don't want her getting sick in the middle of dinner.

 

[SRUAlmn]

This is one place I am considering for our upcoming October trip. Mostly because I am looking for another character meal. We are also planning on doing the Cape May breakfast (staying at YC) and the Storybook Princess lunch.

I have heard and read mixed reviews on the food and character interaction, so I'm looking for opinions. We are not too picky on food, as long as it's hot and tastes decent, we're fine. Not looking for anything gourmet.

Also, I know the restaurant turns and while this is not really noticeable to most people, my DD11 does get occasional motion sickness. It's mostly just when flying, but she has also gotten it in the car if we are on a particularly curvy or hilly road. She will not go on rides like the Teacups because she is afraid she will get sick (although she has never tried, so she doesn't know for sure), but does fine on merry-go-rounds or ferris wheels. I just don't want her getting sick in the middle of dinner.

We really enjoyed our experience here. We liked the food, it was very comforty, thanksgivingy type food which we love No froo-froo food for this crew As for the character interaction, it was great! It was just DH and I (no kids) and all the characters came around to us at least twice, some came three times! I also get motion sickness and can't do a lot of rides because of it and this restaurant didn't bother me at all. In fact, for the most part, we couldn't even tell we were moving unless we looked at the view around us and noticed it was changing. If you're worried, maybe have her take a small 1/2 tablet of dramamine before dinner?

 

[edk35]

We enjoyed the couple of times we ate there. We did the lunch there when they still had the character lunch. Same food/cheaper price. However that all changed last fall. I don't think you will even notice the rotating. We didn't. The chararcter interaction was great. We would do dine there again.

 

[Tam1067]

This was our all-time worst meal in WDW. We would not go there again, and we are not super picky at all. Dessert was good though.

The turning is very gradual. My DS gets super sick in cars and planes, but he was not affected by the rotation.

 

[Mkrop]

You will get opinions all over the place here. Some love, some hate it. I almost cancelled after reading here and was so glad I didnt! We loved it! We have been twice, first time we didnt even know the place spun that is how subtle it is, and the next time we went it was broken.

 

[edk35]

Loved the pot. casserole and the green beans.

 

[Goseethemouse]

We liked it a lot. Probably the favorite meal of our trip. Characters were neat, food pretty good. Don't worry about the turning. It is so slow, I am pretty sure that it won't cause motion sickness. My boys and I really enjoyed eating at Garden Grill.

 

[skoi]

We haven't been there in about two years, so don't know if the food has changed, but when we went we liked it the three times we were there. The food was good, very homey as people mentioned. The character interaction was great each time, and we had good servers as well.

This seems to be a love it or hate it kind of place.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I really liked the food and the characters were great. Service not so much and I found the atmosphere drab. The look of the place really disappointed me. It sounded so cool in theory, but I found it dark and dreary. Perhaps if you get a table in the "outer ring" it's not as bad, but it wasn't a pretty place by a long shot.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I really liked the food and the characters were great. Service not so much and I found the atmosphere drab. The look of the place really disappointed me. It sounded so cool in theory, but I found it dark and dreary. Perhaps if you get a table in the "outer ring" it's not as bad, but it wasn't a pretty place by a long shot.

That's a good point. Where you sit can affect your experience. Ours was pretty good and we were in the outer ring on the lower level. Still, not amazing atmosphere, but cool concept, pretty good food, and lots of character interaction

 

[chipndales]

We've eaten there several times and enjoy it each time. My DD also suffers from occasional motion sickness but it moves so slowly it's barely noticable. The food isn't bad, family style, and the character interaction is amazing! They take a lot of time with each table and it always feels more relaxed to me than other character dining. I say you give it a go and enjoy the atmosphere! Have fun!

 

[DanaAustinChelsea]

We LOVED it! I almost cancelled because of reviews & my kids didn't want to do a character meal. Everything was good, except the kids mac & cheese, which was gross. The rotation is very slow, the only thing we noticed was a change in scenery. The character interaction was amazing; we all had an awesome experience.

 

[Inkmahm]

I last ate here in 2001 or 2002. The food was not good so we have not returned. Characters were fine, the restaurant itself was fine. But I didn't care for the food choices at all.

 

[Stitchfans]

IMO Garden Grill is awesome. Awesome food, awesome character interaction. We went to CM for breakfast this past trip last week - food ok, character interaction not all that great they weren't themselves (which in my experience is unusual, same as for Donald's breakfast in AK- food ok, characters not so great.

Princess breakfast in Norway (Epcot) was awful. Food not worth the money and princesses spent a half a second with us. I would highly recommend you do not book that one.

Went to both breakfast and dinner at 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridan)- both fantastic food and fantastic character interaction.

Breakfast at Ohana as usual real good food real good character interaction, never a disappointment for us yet. Although, not a character meal but the very best meal of our week was dinner at Ohana. The whole menu IMO was to die for. We all enjoyed the entire meal. We will go back there again no doubt, again and again.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

We were at Garden Grill just a couple of weeks ago. While it was not the best meal we had at WDW I would definitely eat here again. I too almost decided not to go based on reviews I have seen here, this seems to be one of the most polarizing restaurants at the world. People seem to either love it or hate it.
Based on what you have said, food quality is not a huge issue so I think you will be just fine at GG. The food was turkey (okay), catfish (pretty good), and steak (I did not like it). The side dishes were all good. I don't think they are serving the potato casserole that a previous poster liked because we just had mashed potatoes but they were good. Dessert was something apple and it was good. Service was just okay.
The rotating restaurant was really neat. I too get motion sickness easily and it didn't bother me at all.
The best thing about the experience was the characters. They spent a lot of time with us. And they were all great. Probably the best out of all our character meals.
My advice is to give it a try.

 

[decker96]

Thanks so much for your opinions everyone! I think we are going to try it, everyone in my family has approved the menu (which is half the battle, LOL!) and it sounds like the character interaction is really good!

Princess breakfast in Norway (Epcot) was awful. Food not worth the money and princesses spent a half a second with us. I would highly recommend you do not book that one.

Breakfast at Ohana as usual real good food real good character interaction, never a disappointment for us yet. Although, not a character meal but the very best meal of our week was dinner at Ohana. The whole menu IMO was to die for. We all enjoyed the entire meal. We will go back there again no doubt, again and again.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with the Princess breakfast. We went there our last trip (Dec. 07) and my kids and my niece loved it. The characters did not spend a huge amount of time with us, but long enough that my kids didn't feel rushed or anything. I thought the food was good as well. Can I ask how long ago you were there? I hope it hasn't gone downhill because my DD5 is dying to go back.

We also did the Ohana breakfast last trip and liked it as well. And Ohana dinner is a must-do for us every trip, it's my DH's favorite!

 

[VLee]

Sorry, but we really did not care for it at all. The food was so bland and character interaction only so-so. We have been to them all and would not schedule this one again.

 

[ntsammy5]

Food was OK, but I like MREs too. The character interaction is superior

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

Can anyone compare the dinner to the family-style dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern?

 

[naominpaul]

We have been there 3x and had a great experience every time. We all thought the food and character interaction was great! I'd definitely recommend the Garden Grill!