Garden Grove Breakfast

[aanderson5]

I really wanted to try the Garden Grove character breakfast at the Swan but am a little nervious because they don't take ADR's. I would hate to get there and not be able to get in or have a crazy wait. I have to make our ADR's in a couple of days and could just go ahead and book Chef Mickey's but I thought it would be nice to try something new and GG seems to get good reviews.

Has anyone been? How was the wait? Is there a better time to go (I know it is only offered on the weekends)? How was the food/experiance? Thanks.

 

[Robert P]

Have been there twice now. We also worried about a wait. The place was never more than 25% full. Seriously, there was no wait, and no crowds, to be found. That makes for a lot of character interaction that you usually don't get at more popular places.
Food is good. Fresh at the Dolphin is slightly better, but for a character breakfast, it was much better than average.
We usually wait until 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. to try to dine there, as anyone wanting to hit the parks would normally try to eat earlier to get done and on their way.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We did it once. We have teens and were staying there so we rreally went for the food, but the characters took alot of time with the kids who were there. I think there was only 2 of them (characters). The food had a big selection, made to order omlets, tons of fresh fruit, pasteries, etc. Everything was fresh. We didnt have a wait to get in.

 

[sharadoc]

I've heard that there are different characters - like Lion King? What characters have you all seen? We're thinking of trying this, since we're staying at BWV in February.

Thanks,

 

[aanderson5]

Thanks for the info. We are definitely going to give it a try in Jan.

I heard you have to pay to park at the Swan. Is that true? I was thinking of parking at Boardwalk and walking over. Is it far? We will probably stop at the Boardwalk bakery after breakfast anyway to get sticky buns to bring back to our room. They were our favorite snack last trip. Yum

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

I thought they did take ADRs. Can't you book them on the Disney website? And would you have to pay to park for a breakfast meal?

 

[aanderson5]

I thought they did take ADRs. Can't you book them on the Disney website? And would you have to pay to park for a breakfast meal?

It looks like they take ADR's but when I was playing with dates on the online system I couldn't find one available time in the next 3 months meanwhile the system was offering me Chef Mickey's, O'hana's etc... I thought this was a little fishy and looked at the hotels website and read that they don't take ADR's for breakfast.

As for the parking, I'm not sure where I heard that but I really don't want to pay for parking to eat at the hotel either. I may be misinformed (I hope so). Hopefully someone else knows about the parking situation.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Will anyone give us more info on the character breakfast here? Please, it looks like something we might like to do in December. I don't think they take the DDP, but do they have that dining surcharge thing going on just like Disney will?

 

[Joshua_me]

The Swan and Dolphin are NOT Disney-owned hotels, therefore none of their restaurants accept ADR's, and are not eligible for any Disney dining plan.

We almost always enjoy the breakfast buffet @ Garden Grove in The Swan. Even during peak times, we've never had longer than a 10 min wait (if that) and the quality of the food offered is better than the Disney hotels, IMHO...

That being said, remember that as a "character breakfast" the place is fairly lackluster. Yes, there are two characters available, but only one at a time and usually they are the same height. ( )

If you are taking young children for character interaction, you could do MUCH better at most any other character breakfast. If it's characters you want, you will most certainly be disappointed.

If, however, good breakfast food and lots of it for a reasonable price is your goal, then The Garden Grove can't be beat.

 

[webray]

Will anyone give us more info on the character breakfast here? Please, it looks like something we might like to do in December. I don't think they take the DDP, but do they have that dining surcharge thing going on just like Disney will?

For breakfast on the weekends it is usually chip/dale/pluto. No need for reservations, good size restaurant, little to no wait at all. You can have buffet or order off the menu, your choice. Because the restaurant is not usually full, your kids get lots of character time, and the characters are great with the kids and adults, lol. (yes, I love when they come to table and our baby is pushing 30, lol).

NO DDP, not sure about the surcharge thing. They are not a "disney" restaurant, so have never noticed when we were there over holiday times about the surcharge.

When there a couple weeks ago they had new items on the buffet. I always go for the eggs made to order, then with the bacon/potatoes, etc from buffet. Great fruit assortment, pastry assortment, cereals, breads, etc.

We find it to be good value for what you get.

 

[Robert P]

Here goes:


Breakfast:
Saturday is Pluto Goofy
Sunday is Pluto Goofy and Chip & Dale

For dinner, Pluto Goofy for dinner, except 2 nights per week it's Rafiki and Timon instead (Monday and Friday I believe).

Garden Grove does not take ADR's for breakfast, but does for dinner. Weird, yes, but I had to dig in for that info for our Labor Day trip, and that was the case.
The S&D restaurants that take ADR's can be booked through WDW dining, as well as through the S&D website if you are a guest with an upcoming stay. It's a neat feature, if anyone wants to try it sometime.

Long ago, the signature restaurants used to validate parking (Shula's and Blue Zoo for sure). Have not heard about any of that in recent reports. So yes, I believe you would have to pay to park there. Since the guests staying there must pay, I believe the dining guests would as have to as well.

GG is quickly becoming a favorite of ours. Good food, fresh product, Starbucks coffee, and usually not crowded. They also offer a 20% discount for DVC members.

Anything else I can help with, just let me know and I'll try to answer. Sorry for the too much info download, but I researched the crap out of the S&D restaurants for our last trip, to schedule counter to the WDW free dining promo.

Robert P

 

[aanderson5]

Here goes:


Breakfast:
Saturday is Pluto Goofy
Sunday is Pluto Goofy and Chip & Dale

For dinner, Pluto Goofy for dinner, except 2 nights per week it's Rafiki and Timon instead (Monday and Friday I believe).

Garden Grove does not take ADR's for breakfast, but does for dinner. Weird, yes, but I had to dig in for that info for our Labor Day trip, and that was the case.
The S&D restaurants that take ADR's can be booked through WDW dining, as well as through the S&D website if you are a guest with an upcoming stay. It's a neat feature, if anyone wants to try it sometime.

Long ago, the signature restaurants used to validate parking (Shula's and Blue Zoo for sure). Have not heard about any of that in recent reports. So yes, I believe you would have to pay to park there. Since the guests staying there must pay, I believe the dining guests would as have to as well.

GG is quickly becoming a favorite of ours. Good food, fresh product, Starbucks coffee, and usually not crowded. They also offer a 20% discount for DVC members.

Anything else I can help with, just let me know and I'll try to answer. Sorry for the too much info download, but I researched the crap out of the S&D restaurants for our last trip, to schedule counter to the WDW free dining promo.

Robert P

Thanks so much for all your great info.

 

[Joshua_me]

Garden Grove does not take ADR's for breakfast, but does for dinner.

Well, shut my mouth !

When did this start ??

Sheesh... I feel bad giving out inaccurate info....

 

[Robert P]

Well, shut my mouth !

When did this start ??

Sheesh... I feel bad giving out inaccurate info....

Do not feel bad young man. All of your info is spot on 99.9% of the time. Plus, this may be new info that changed since you last checked. S&D dining had made some noticeable changes in September, since our last visit. Keep your info coming.... ..... good info is always valued.

I somehow became a de facto 'expert' on S&D eateries during my efforts to combat the free dining swarms for Labor Day. I tried my best to book breakfast ADR's at GG. Couldn't get it done, through WDW or S&D dining, but did lock in an ADR for our dinner there. The signature restaurants have mostly been ADR-able for some time, but this 'no breakfast ADR' thing at GG was new to me, and the CM's I have since dealt with for other dining things.
This wasn't something I stumbled across, I really had to dig in to find this stuff out. Maybe I wanted to use that DVC discount a little too much......

OFF TOPIC SOMEWHAT - an FYI to anyone interested:
I also researched the S&D dining plan (a plan specific to some of their restaurants). I won't go into the full details here, it is available elsewhere, but the menus at Shula's, BlueZoo, and Il Mulino were definitely limited in your choices. Shula's even had sort of an early bird thing, but the killer for us was that the chocolate souffle was not available for dessert. The one appealing aspect I saw was that kids eat free with the adult plan, but still, the adult menus were fixed (limited), and not items we would have normally ordered. For adults only, the plan made no sense for us. With kids along, it had some merit to it, but still not enough for us to give it a try.