Garden Grove

[BDK33]

Hey all,

Does anyone have any advice on the Garden Grove at the Swan?

How is food?

What characters are there?

Any feedback would be appreciated!

TIA

 

[JerseyJanice]

The Seafood Sensation dinner buffet Thursday through Saturday is very good.

Characters are Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale.

It is a regular buffet including AYCE crab legs and a carving station with roast beef.

Each person gets half of a stuffed lobster plus they bring a basket of fried seafood (shrimp, calamari and clam strips) for the table.

If you have a AAA card, they will discount the food 20%.

I think it’s the best kept secret at WDW.

 

[babs33]

If you have a AAA card, they will discount the food 20%.

I think it’s the best kept secret at WDW.

Wow, had absolutely NO idea about this. Do you know of any other WDW restaurants that honor a AAA card? (Sorry if that's off-topic!)

 

[AngiTN]

AAA and Disney severed their relationship years ago so I think only the non-Disney locations are possibilities. Meaning some of your DS locations.

I had friends that dined at Garden Grove last week. I'm going to see what they thought of it when we get their Disney review next week. It's the only character meal we've never done. They picked it since they were staying at Swan.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Wow, had absolutely NO idea about this. Do you know of any other WDW restaurants that honor a AAA card? (Sorry if that's off-topic!)

The casual restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin give a 20% discount on food and soft drinks. This includes the Garden Grove, The Fountain, Fresh Mediterranean, Picabu, Splash and Cabanas.

 

[BDK33]

The casual restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin give a 20% discount on food and soft drinks. This includes the Garden Grove, The Fountain, Fresh Mediterranean, Picabu, Splash and Cabanas.

Great info! Thank you!

 

[babs33]

The casual restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin give a 20% discount on food and soft drinks. This includes the Garden Grove, The Fountain, Fresh Mediterranean, Picabu, Splash and Cabanas.

Can't believe I never knew this. Thanks so much!

 

[bettymae1121]

I'll be eating there on 4/21!

I'll try to remember to post back about how we liked it.

 

[jillt2ph]

I enjoyed the weekend breakfast buffet with the characters. Such a nice change from the normal crazy crowded ones. Characters spent time with us, and who doesn't love a MTO omelette station??? I feel like I have written this same comment over and over, lol, but we walked over and played a game of mini golf after our breakfast

 

[Minnesota!]

The Seafood Sensation dinner buffet Thursday through Saturday is very good.

Characters are Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale.

It is a regular buffet including AYCE crab legs and a carving station with roast beef.

Each person gets half of a stuffed lobster plus they bring a basket of fried seafood (shrimp, calamari and clam strips) for the table.

If you have a AAA card, they will discount the food 20%.

I think it’s the best kept secret at WDW.

We are going back and forth between this and Cape May - can you compare the two?

Do you know - are there clams or mussels at GG? My YDS's only request...out of a shell.

 

[chris benton]

From the Swan > GG Menu Site:

https://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/menus/pdf/garden-grove-seafood-buffet.pdf

 

[JerseyJanice]

We are going back and forth between this and Cape May - can you compare the two?

Do you know - are there clams or mussels at GG? My YDS's only request...out of a shell.

When we ate at both restaurants in the same week in 2016, the crab legs at Garden Grove were far superior to the crab legs at Cape May—bigger, meatier, and easier to clean.

In 2017, we went only to GG, and the crab legs were disappointing that meal. Hard to clean and I would say that they were over cooked, but we had crab legs from different batches so I don’t think that over cooking was the problem. More likely that they were stored at inconsistent temperatures while frozen.

I know I had mussels in 2016 in a spicy red sauce and they were really good, but they were in their shells. I don’t recall having steamed clams either visit. We did get fried clam strips in 2017 and those were excellent. Reminded me of AYCE clam strips on Friday nights at Howard Johnson when I was a child. LOL!

There is a separate part of the buffet for kids. It’s shorter and had mini corn dogs which I love.

ETA: I think both restaurants are very good. I do feel the Cape May isn’t as fancy as it used to be. It used to serve some really nice salads and had a chef or two stationed by the seafood who would steam things freshly for the guests.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either, but I think GG is the better choice because it has characters while Cape May does not at dinner. Also, the atmosphere at GG is calmer and quieter than CMC which is always kind of hectic and loud. GG is sedate in comparison and that’s even with characters.

 

[chris benton]

Reminded me of AYCE clam strips on Friday nights at Howard Johnson when I was a child. LOL!

Oh I hate you right now. We went to Hojo's for fried clam Fridays every other week for about 4 years. Pecan pie for desert!
Wish I could relive those days every so often.

 

[JerseyJanice]

With a spritz of lemon, those clam strips are so good. I don’t recall eating pie there though. We were probably too stuffed from downing clam strips to fit it in. LOL!

 

[Texans_loyal]

Never heard of Garden Grove either! Sounds like a place we would enjoy, does anyone have pricing by chance? Also, does AP discount apply?

Update: Just did some research, Looks like $40 for adults and $21 for kids. Not bad at all. Dining plan, GCS and payment via MB not accepted. There is a charge to park, they don't validate parking.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Never heard of Garden Grove either! Sounds like a place we would enjoy, does anyone have pricing by chance? Also, does AP discount apply?

Update: Just did some research, Looks like $40 for adults and $21 for kids. Not bad at all. Dining plan, GCS and payment via MB not accepted. There is a charge to park, they don't validate parking.

If you have AAA, that $40 buffet goes down to $32. If you’re parked at the Studios or Epcot, just take the boat to save on parking. The restaurant is inside the Swan which is the building on the left when you to the top of the dock.

 

[Texans_loyal]

If you have AAA, that $40 buffet goes down to $32. If you’re parked at the Studios or Epcot, just take the boat to save on parking. The restaurant is inside the Swan which is the building on the left when you to the top of the dock.

awesome, Thanks for all the info!