Garden Grill...your thoughts?

[TinkerKell-ey]

Do they still do the ice cream only? We were there in 2004 and had these amazing ice cream concoctions-they even brought my son (about 18 mo.) his own mini sundae at no charge. (I had said I would share mine with him, but they insisted everybody have their own!!) We saw Mickey, Pluto and Chip Dale dressed like farmers. Pluto came around 3 times and played with my son forever - probably the best WDW video we ever took. I called to make an ADR in 2006, and they said it was temporarily discontinued. I never tried again . . .

 

[RMulieri]

Do they still do the ice cream only? We were there in 2004 and had these amazing ice cream concoctions-they even brought my son (about 18 mo.) his own mini sundae at no charge. (I had said I would share mine with him, but they insisted everybody have their own!!) We saw Mickey, Pluto and Chip Dale dressed like farmers. Pluto came around 3 times and played with my son forever - probably the best WDW video we ever took. I called to make an ADR in 2006, and they said it was temporarily discontinued. I never tried again . . .

Nope .

 

[Mkrop]

I use to love the food there, loved the catfish and the potatoes, yet when we went in January, both of those items were gone. It was one of the most disappointing meals of the trip.

The character interaction was awesome though.

 

[rainydayplay]

I love Garden Grill! We went for my birthday last year. The food was great -- the dessert was amazing! (Of course...I was stuffed when they brought out my birthday cupcake...) The guy that sang for me and my DD (our bdays are one day apart) sand a Happy Birthday version of Hakuna Matata. (Hakuna Matata...what a wonderful phrase...Hakuna Matata...it ain't no passin' craze...It means Happy Birthday for the rest of your days...orsomethinglikethat)

 

[kirbygump]

This will be our first TS meal when we arrive in WDW this summer. I am really looking forward to it. We loved the character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern in 2008 and are so disappointed that they got rid of it.

 

[PrincessMama22]

It is fun too if you have been on the ride first and you can see where you are as the grill rotates. My son loves to point out the thunderstorm scene. This is one of my favorites and we can't go to Disney without a meal here!!!

 

[mmtska]

DH and I loved this meal! The food was pretty good, and like PP said, you can ask more of anything! We also got mac and cheese off the kids' menu and we don't have kids

The character interaction is great too! Mickey, Pluto and Chip n Dale are there. So much fuN

 

[pixarmom]

We love it, too! Garden Grill is our arrival night tradition every time, and our boys' favorite WDW restaurant. As others have said, good food and great character interaction. Our last visit was in March, and I actually liked mahi much better than the catfish. (At the time, they also replaced the make-your-own cupcake with worms and dirt for the kids.)

 

[Kyle D.]

Hard choice for me here!

The GOOD: The characters (mickey, pluto, chip, and dale) were awesome. It was quite, got to spend good amount of time with them. They all came by more than once.

The BAD: We thought the food was terrible. The only thing that really salvaged it for me was the free dining. When I saw the bill and saw what I actually would have paid for that food I laughed, because I would have been fuming mad! I did like the family style dining, our food was just really bad, but who knows maybe the chefs had a bad night!

My VERDICT: Free Dining then go for it! Paying might want to get further opinions, I would never pay for it myself.

 

[ceruleansummer]

The past two times I've been to Disney, my family has always eaten at the Garden Grille. We love it! I remember as a little kid loving the scenery and not so much even remembering the food. As a young teenager, I remember the food somewhat (I got a chicken dish and I ate it, that's the extent of my memory) and adored the scenery, and I remember the characters coming over and having so much fun with me and my sisters each time. Now, my DBF and I have ressies there in a couple days (6 to be exact!) and I plan on focusing on the food! I think it's great how most everything is grown right in Disney (gotta love a self-sustaining food source ) I'll make sure to come back here and let you know what we thought. Hope I could help!

 

[mmccan]

I wish they still had the ice cream social. We took the boys there on their first trip and it was the best character interaction of the whole trip. The characters spent alot of time hanging out with my kids and even sat and colored with them for at least 10 minutes. We are trying it again for dinner this trip and all 3 boys are excited. My DS5 (who was not born yet when we did the ice cream social) is really excited to be eating in the "spinning" restaurant as he calls it.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

loved it so much last october we rebooked for aprils trip. its one of my faves. the food is super yummy. keep in mind food may be seasonal. in the fall we had salad that was completley different from last month. last month they put slices of hard boiled eggs on it. last fall dessert was blueberry crumble or grunt. april it was strawberry rhubarb(ick, no offense, i just dont like that!). ds even got a bday card signed with crayons from mickey, pluto and chip and dale!