grand floridian and high noon tea???

[Mogs30]

Anyone heard of this, done this?? We are going next year and my mother LOVES tea-takes tea breaks all the time--wish I had time to take potty break?? but besides the point. ANyway thought I could surprise her with a reservation for it when we go. Any way I can find out about this?? Thanks

 

[Grumpy92]

The tea is in the Garden View Lounge at the GF. The hours are everyday 2pm-6pm. We love it, especially the tea for two. If you want to look at the menu it can be found on www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm.
At 4pm the piano player plays in the lobby and then at 5pm the jazz band plays. All can be heard in the GV lounge. Definitely a must do, it is so relaxing and fun.

 

[PamOKW]

high noon tea

High noon is usually when the cowboys have their gunfights. High tea is an English expression...usually served at 4:00 p.m. Just got a kick out of your mix-up. Thanks for a giggle.

The tea at the GF I believe runs from 2:00-6:00 (not sure on the end time). You can order a la carte or the "high tea" service. It's a very pleasant way to spend some time and the pastries are delicious. I agree that being there when the pianist is playing makes it that much nicer. Around 5:00-6:00 p.m. a small orchestra starts playing and they are wonderful as well.

 

[Mogs30]

Well slap me silly I love westerns too. I can't bring up website, do we need to make PS for it and how far out. I better do some more research. Not sure how I can surprise her either with our schedule. Mmmm, I have to think about it. Maybe my dad and mom can have tea and we will do the mouse boats. Thanks for input everyone.

 

[Ityldu]

I would make PS's, better to be safe then sorry if this is something important to you. We went Jan 2001 and weren't all that impressed. I've done lots of teas and it just didn't compare, but it could have easily just been a bad day, because pretty much everything else I've heard about High Tea is all positive.

 

[Mogs30]

Found a web-site but I didn't find anything for "High tea", just a grand tea--is this the same thing??? and it goes from 2-6. are you there for the whole 4 hours or is it in intervals???. Also, would my parents be best to do an early lunch-use this as a late dinner type--not sure how filling the pastries are, or should they plan on doing a light dinner afterwards?? any help would be great. I think it would be a nice surprise b-day gift for her, her b-day would have been about 15 days before our trip. Thanks.

 

[Ityldu]

Yes, Grand Tea is the same thing as High Tea. It's like a restaurant as far as the hours go. It's open from 2-6, but you can make PS's for any time during those hours. There aren't intervals, you just pick a time that suits your needs. You can stay for as long or little as you like. I'd say it's about a 1/2 hour to 45 min. relaxing experience.

It's more of a late lunch thing than an early dinner. There will serve you some finger sandwiches, I believe there are 4 different types. Cucumber sand. type things. Very small, but enough. I believe each person gets a sconce and then there are some pasteries at the end. Definitely filling if you like the sampling. If I remember right, there are also other things you can order like quiche, salad and maybe soups, but I like the tea-for-two set up.

I think it would be a great surprise for you mother.

 

[RLMS56]

Ahhh, one of my fav things to do in WDW and I prefer enjoying it solo. The grand tea is fabulous and the CMs are very accomodating.

 

[erikthewise]

Not to be picky, but my recollection is that ordinary Tea is traditionally at 4:00, but "High Tea" is more of a light supper, and traditionally takes place somewhat later like 5:30. The British tend to eat later dinners than us, often around 8:30 or so. (The GF of course can schedule their "high tea" whenever they wish.)

 

[amw5g]

Originally posted by erikthewise
Not to be picky, but my recollection is that ordinary Tea is traditionally at 4:00, but "High Tea" is more of a light supper, and traditionally takes place somewhat later like 5:30. The British tend to eat later dinners than us, often around 8:30 or so. (The GF of course can schedule their "high tea" whenever they wish.)

Well done. Afternoon tea is the more elegant of the two consisting of finger foods, finery and tea. It also typically ends prior to 4pm.
High tea, so called because it was served on a regular dining table or sideboard (and thus 'higher') compared to the Afternoon Tea, also called 'low tea', which is served on low tables. High tea was a meal served after 4pm sometimes attributed to factory workers in bars or in kitchens. So the notion that High Tea would be served in GF is probably out of place.
Of course the GF's "Prince Edward's tea" is more savory in nature with mousse, potted crab and duck. It could certainly be considered High Tea in cuisine alone, but because of the setting, would still likely be considered afternoon/low tea by those in the know.
-Andrew

 

[jwwi]

We went to the tea during an early December visit. The Grand Floridian is the most beautifully decorated of all the resorts during the holidays. You would be very lucky to visit during that time.
I digress, the tea was very good. My mother and I shared the tea for two. It is a sampling of small finger sandwiches, and very pretty and tasty deserts. I felt it was very filling, although I think we did eat dinner later that night. I do not like hot tea, for anyone who may feel the same way, they do serve Raspberry Ice tea also. It is a brewed tea, but comes with plenty of ice. You really cannot beat the atmosphere. In addition to the dining area being at the far end of the lobby, with good views, it also has windows that look out on the resort. Enjoy!

 

[Pumbaa_]

A large grop of us did this during the DISCON last Decemebr. I think it ended up being around 30 people. We had a blast. Many of us wore tiaras. (yes, we really got into the tea!)

The food was wonderful! Because there were so many of us, they opened early for our group. We had a wonderful selection of food. Definately think of it more as a filling snack, but not enough to skip a meal. It is a good thing to have if you have a late dinner planned.

It was a great experience, and worth a visit to the GF just to see the holiday decorations. Definatley going to do this again during this years DisCon!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I've done the Grand Tea once in January and going back in June. While it is 2:00-6:00, both times I had to make ressies, not at any time, but for one of the 3 "seatings"-2:00, 3:15, 0r 4:30. So although it is open until 6:00, the latest PS was for 4:30.

 

[SeaSpray]

We did Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian last May, I think exactly a year ago today, actually! My DH, DS13, DS10, and I enjoyed this very much!

They have pre-set "meals" you can order which would include tea of your choice, finger sandwiches, scones, tarts, strawberries and cream, pastries, etc. OR you can order anything individually, a la carte!

My DH and I LOVED the scones with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam.......Mmmmmmmm!!!

They have a children's version too which includes chocolate milk and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other selections.

Our server was wonderful and made suggestions to us and made a couple of substitutions.

We did this as a late lunch, after spending the day at Typhoon Lagoon and it was a wonderful way to relax after a tiring day!

I have a couple of pictures of our Afternoon Tea on my "family vacations" web site, the link is below!

P.S. I also suggest making a PS because you wouldn't want to be disappointed and miss out on this!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We did the tea at the Grand Floridian just this past April. We had never done it before and it was great. We used it as a break from the Magic Kingdom and took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian and took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom afterwards. We did not have PS for it because we weren't sure if we would go or not. We didn't have a problem getting a table and had the tea for two which was a great selection of sandwiches, scone, tea and at the end a large bowl of strawberries. It was well worth the price in my opinion.

 

[Goofyisme]

The tea for two is wonderful and the CM we had was great. I have a lot of foood that I am not allowed to eat, she did a great jop of substituting to meet my needs and provided us with a great and relaxing experience. I highly recommend this as a mid vacation break to relax and enjoy being in the land of magic.

 

[erikthewise]

Seaspray,

Thanks for your description! It brings back memories of having scones and "clotted cream" (as they call it there) in Devonshire, England. Pure heaven!
(But those with a cholesterol problem may want to stick with the raspberry jam. They don't call it "clotted cream" for nothing!)

 

[SeaSpray]

Erik:

Next time I'm in WDW, I WILL go back to tea and have the scones, cream, and jam again! That was the best part of the meal, in my opinion! I think ALL of it was awesome, but those scones.....cream.....raspberry jam.....Mmmmmmmmmm.......

Anyone want to take me to Disney World??