Garden Grove Character Dinner??

[G8r4evr]

This is the ONLY character meal open during our stay....has anyone tried it? What did you think??

 

[Nennie]

We ate at Garden Grove on Tues night, and only tried it b/c we had a $25 gift certificate from restaurant.com

Pros:
It's never crowded, so you don't need a reservation.
Made to order pasta is pretty decent
Goofy and Pluto (if you haven't already seen them elsewhere)

Cons:
Beverages not included in buffet price ($3 extra for each iced tea we ordered)
Service was horrible (dirty plates piled up on our table that were never cleared, had to wait forever just to get the check)
Other than the pasta, the food was below average.

Pros and Cons being said, I definitely wouldn't do it without the $25 restaurant.com certificate. Personally, even with the certificate, I wouldn't do it again either. Ended up being around $70 for 2 adults (after the discount) b/c of drinks and the mandatory 18% gratuity (b/c of gift cert). We have gotten much better meals for that price elsewhere.

Next time, I'll stick to the character breakfasts. The breakfast food is just so much better at the buffets in my opinion.

 

[G8r4evr]

We ate at Garden Grove on Tues night, and only tried it b/c we had a $25 gift certificate from restaurant.com

Pros:
It's never crowded, so you don't need a reservation.
Made to order pasta is pretty decent
Goofy and Pluto (if you haven't already seen them elsewhere)

Cons:
Beverages not included in buffet price ($3 extra for each iced tea we ordered)
Service was horrible (dirty plates piled up on our table that were never cleared, had to wait forever just to get the check)
Other than the pasta, the food was below average.

Pros and Cons being said, I definitely wouldn't do it without the $25 restaurant.com certificate. Personally, even with the certificate, I wouldn't do it again either. Ended up being around $70 for 2 adults (after the discount) b/c of drinks and the mandatory 18% gratuity (b/c of gift cert). We have gotten much better meals for that price elsewhere.

Next time, I'll stick to the character breakfasts. The breakfast food is just so much better at the buffets in my opinion.

Wow, that is pricey...but Im inclined to pay it, because its the only character dining I can find during outr stay.

HOWEVER, our ressies are for this Friday night....and I just read on another forum that Goofy and Pluto dont make appearances on Fridays...can anyone confirm??

 

[RichmondTiggerFan]

Wow, that is pricey...but Im inclined to pay it, because its the only character dining I can find during outr stay.

HOWEVER, our ressies are for this Friday night....and I just read on another forum that Goofy and Pluto dont make appearances on Fridays...can anyone confirm??

On Monday & Friday nights, Timon & Rafiki are the characters that appear. If you like Lion King (like me), this dinner is perfect, as it's the only place to have a meal with these characters. As others have said, this meal isn't usually crowded & the characters will spend plenty of time at your table.

Also, the buffet is mostly seafood on these nights. The best things I've had here are the Caesar salad, seafood risotto (made to order), and the desserts.

 

[carmic]

We ate here on our April 09 visit with our at that time 3 1/2 year old daughter and both of her grandmothers. We had a great time. The restaurant revolves in a circle and the booth seating makes your character time you own. Mikey, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto were the characters and this was on a Friday night but they may have changed the character line up since then. Check the reviews on this site. Meal was actually family style and was quite good. Plenty to eat and better than most CS dining. As it was not crazy all of the characters came to our booth twice. We were on the Dining Plan Plus so it only took on TS meal per person. We worth it if you have kids and can't get into any other character meals.

 

[Cafeen]

We ate here on our April 09 visit with our at that time 3 1/2 year old daughter and both of her grandmothers. We had a great time. The restaurant revolves in a circle and the booth seating makes your character time you own. Mikey, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto were the characters and this was on a Friday night but they may have changed the character line up since then. Check the reviews on this site. Meal was actually family style and was quite good. Plenty to eat and better than most CS dining. As it was not crazy all of the characters came to our booth twice. We were on the Dining Plan Plus so it only took on TS meal per person. We worth it if you have kids and can't get into any other character meals.

Just as a note, this pertains to Garden Grill (which is located in The Land at Epcot). The OP is posting about Garden Grove which is located in the Swan (or Dolphin, one of the two).

While the above is correct for Garden Grill, Garden Grove does not accept the DDP and is a 2 character buffet meal as described in the previous post above it.

 

[WUVmyDISNEY]

Have you thought of trying the character breakfast at Garden Grove? On Sunday morning, you have Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. I believe I read Saturday you do not get Chip and Dale. I haven't eaten here yet but I do have a ressie for Dec for a Wed evening when they are serving the BBQ buffet. I am also going to try the breakfast buffet on a Sunday. If you have an Orlando Magicard, you will get 20% off of your meal at Garden Grove. This will be my first time trying out GG.

 

[TinkerKell-ey]

We were there in Feb. It was a somewhat last minute trip and I couldn't make the ADRs I thought I wanted. We "settled" for Garden Grove. We were there on a Thursday night. It was Mediterranean Night and it was wonderful! It wasn't crowded, we had lots of time with Goofy and Pluto and feel like we discovered a hidden treasure! You will have a yummy salad, served tableside and there are lots of unique drinks on the menu. The buffet was fresh with lots - but not too many- choices. The kids enjoyed the food too. We will go back someday for sure!

Try this link for menu information http://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/gardengrove/index.html

 

[G8r4evr]

We were there in Feb. It was a somewhat last minute trip and I couldn't make the ADRs I thought I wanted. We "settled" for Garden Grove. We were there on a Thursday night. It was Mediterranean Night and it was wonderful! It wasn't crowded, we had lots of time with Goofy and Pluto and feel like we discovered a hidden treasure! You will have a yummy salad, served tableside and there are lots of unique drinks on the menu. The buffet was fresh with lots - but not too many- choices. The kids enjoyed the food too. We will go back someday for sure!

Try this link for menu information http://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/gardengrove/index.html

Sounds wonderful! Just wish I knew for sure if Goofy and Pluto would be there on Fri night!