Garden Grove at the Swan?

[arizonacolbys]

We are disappointed that the Garden Grill in the Land will be closed on our upcoming trip in January & are looking for another character meal to try. We've tried many - but, haven't heard much about the Garden Grove Cafe at the Swan Resort - has anyone tried it?

I see they have a breakfast buffet on Sat/Sun w/Goofy & Pluto. Is this good?

It looks like for dinner it's either Goofy & Pluto, or Rafiki & Timon. Do they give you the option of menu ordering or eating from the buffet? On-line I found a sample menu for this restaurant & the buffet mentions different themes each night - does anyone know what other "themes" are offered there?

Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks!!!

 

[arizonacolbys]

BUMP!!

Has anyone eaten here?

 

[JerseyBallerina]

I ate there twice during my stay at the Swan this past July. We had an unplanned dinner there because it was raining and we didn't want to leave the hotel. We should have. It was easily the worst meal of the trip. The service was horrible and it wasn't that crowded. I think because we were four teenagers as opposed to adults, we were treated differently. The family next to us got their order taken, drinks brought, food brought, and drink refills before our food had been brought. Pluto and Goofy were there and made the rounds four times while we were there. It literally took the waiter a half hour to bring our drink refills. Two families sat down and ate while we waited for our food/refills/check. The food wasn't bad but it wasn't good enough to justify the wait. This was the first time I didn't leave a tip.

On the other hand, breakfast wasn't bad. There were no characters and we did the buffet, which had the typical offerings. Our waitress was more attentive and our juice glasses were never empty.

So, I would recommend breakfast over dinner but maybe I was just there on a bad night. Hope I helped.

 

[ahutton]

We've been there for both breakfast and dinner and enjoyed both very much. The breakfast buffet is great, so is the coffee. The characters came to our table several times and were great taking their time so DDs could warm up to them. By the end of breakfast our scared daughter was skipping around the restaurant holding Goofy's hand. Dinner was also very good. DH had the seafood buffet and enjoyed a great meal of crab. I ordered meatloaf off the menu (very allergic to shellfish) and it was outstanding. Same great character experience then too. I also love that is is a bit more laid back and quieter than the average character meal, which can get very loud and hectic.

 

[Rafikifan]

It's been a couple of years since we had dinner there but it was very good. The night we were there Rafiki and Timon were the characters and they were wonderful! It was a pleasant atrium like setting, VERY uncrowded compared to other character meals, and we had excellent service partly because it was so uncrowded I believe. We ordered off the menu and the food was good but it wasn't inexpensive, but what is anymore?

 

[jwfla422]

We frequently go to this restaurant at night (it's actually Gulliver's at night). They have a choice of either the buffet or there is a separate menu you can order from.

The food is usually pretty good, the character interaction is fun and we've always had good service. But, keep in mind there are only 2 characters here for dinner, but it is also one of the few restaurants outside the parks that have a character dinner (other than Chef Mickey's and PF).