Help! My DS really wants Garden Grille

[ireland_nicole]

My DS is a super huge pluto fan, and we're going to Disney this summer to celebrate the kids birthdays (so lots and lots of character meals- but we're staying in a house, so at least I can come back and cook decent food for DH and I when the kids go to bed).

Anyway, DS saw the info on Garden grille and is desperate to try it. Has anyone had anything even approaching edible there? We ate there in 2001, and it was fine then, but it looks like all I'm reading here are really negative reports.

Is it really that bad and do I need to try very hard to convince DS this is not the best choice? And if so, does anyone have any ideas? We're far from picky eaters, but I want to make sure there's something we can eat. DS and DD each got to pick two special meals this trip, and this is his first choice.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I haven't been to Garden Grill, but I know Pluto is also at Chef Mickey's dinner, if you would rather go to a buffet which would have more choices at dinner than a family-style like Garden Grill. Chef Mickey's also has Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. It's at the Contemporary Resort, so if you have an Epcot day planned you can take the monorail from the park to the TTC and then the resort monorail to Contemporary. You could also walk to the Contemporary on an MK day.

 

[Mickey country]

Just ate there last week, and yes it is that bad! We ate there a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it. This time it was terrible and not worth paying for. The salad has a nasty tart and tangy dressing on it, rolls not so good, meat is tough, and the veg. is down to cut up brussel sprouts with bits of carrots. They even put nutmeg in the mashed potatoes, it was gross. We did not eat the dessert. I would talk him out of it.

 

[dismagiclover]

We've been to Garden Grille twice and are scheduled to go again in June. We've always enjoyed it. It isn't gourmet by any means, but it is plenty tasty. Last trip we didn't like the flank steak, but the catfish more than made up for it and there were plenty of other foods to choose from. If you have picky eaters the kid's plate is standard chicken nugget fare. The character interaction here is great and I love that it is a character meal that isn't a buffet. I get tired of trying to balance going to the buffet line with meeting the characters. Here you don't have to worry about it. The food and the characters all come to you. This will not be the best meal of your life certainly, but it is more than just edible. Good luck on your decision!

 

[ireland_nicole]

Chef Mickey's is his second choice, we're actually going there on his B-day for Dinner. We also booked O'hana breakfast as a surprise so I guess we're going for a Pluto trifecta LOL. Did I mention my DS is Pluto obsessed?

Thanks for the input, DS loves CM's, DD is afraid of it, because a character handler yelled at her the last trip, and she hasn't forgotten. The other CM's apologized, but it really frightened her. I'm hoping she'll be ok this time.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Chef Mickey's is his second choice, we're actually going there on his B-day for Dinner. We also booked O'hana breakfast as a surprise so I guess we're going for a Pluto trifecta LOL. Did I mention my DS is Pluto obsessed?

Thanks for the input, DS loves CM's, DD is afraid of it, because a character handler yelled at her the last trip, and she hasn't forgotten. The other CM's apologized, but it really frightened her. I'm hoping she'll be ok this time.

Sounds like you have Pluto covered for your son!!!

Your daughter will probably be fine once she sees that no one is yelling at her this time. I'm sure that was an isolated incident and will not happen again.

You have a nice balance with both of your Pluto meals...one buffet and one family-style! Nice!

Enjoy your trip, it will be magical and wonderful!!!

 

[ireland_nicole]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input: DD's well covered too, CRT, Akurshus, and 1900 park faire.

Oh well, except for the fairies, there won't be any character lines, right? Besides, they're getting older, and I figure there won't be too many more years that they really want to do them.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input: DD's well covered too, CRT, Akurshus, and 1900 park faire.

Oh well, except for the fairies, there won't be any character lines, right? Besides, they're getting older, and I figure there won't be too many more years that they really want to do them.

Sounds like you have their favorite characters covered by your meals, except the fairies like you said. Yes, the fairies will probably have a line, but you can avoid the other character lines because of your dining choices! No, not too many more years to worry about it, but you never know. I'm 32 and I still love the characters!! But I'm like a little kid and enjoy going to the character meals probably just as much as my children like them!

 

[pixarmom]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input: DD's well covered too, CRT, Akurshus, and 1900 park faire.

Oh well, except for the fairies, there won't be any character lines, right? Besides, they're getting older, and I figure there won't be too many more years that they really want to do them.

That's very true! Our three boys LOVE Garden Grill, and we think the food is good. It's not as good as it was several years ago, but still good. It's a relatively relaxed atmosphere for meeting characters and our kids love how it rotates so they see different parts of the land ride during dinner. They serve family style, but they bring both adult and kids items together, as the previous poster mentioned. With mac n cheese, chicken tenders, etc., even our pickiest eater is happy. And the make-your-own dessert for kids is very fun! I think the quote above says it all - I'd suggest you stick with it!

 

[SGMCO]

Pluto is also at Ohanas Best Friends Breakfast.
We were disappointed with Garden Grill (fish was cooked like
chicken fried steak thick, greasy, over use of black pepper
and we were expecting crunchy flacky southern fried catfish--didn't care for
the veggies either). Reminded me of School Lunch food, for the price
you would expect better food.
I don't remember seeing Pluto but remember
Chip and Dale.
but You may like it, so it doesn't hurt to try it out for yourself,
we like Tony's town Square and most people don't care for it,
so you never know.

 

[TDC Nala]

There isn't catfish on the menu anymore. It's "sustainable fish of the day" and they change types of fish, so don't look for the catfish.

 

[RMulieri]

We ate there last Tuesday and Loved IT ..It was one of the best meals all week .The adult meal was Flank steak, Mashed potatoes, Turkey and stuffing, and our fish was Mahi Mahi with mixed veggies. The kids platter had Chicken nuggets, Mac and Cheese and French Fries. Kids could eat off either platter and they refilled it as much as you wanted.

 

[PurpleTurtle]

We ate there in June of 2008 (they were still doing lunch then) and we really loved it. I thought the food was great, and the character interaction was the best we had at a character meal b/c each table is fairly private. I say go for it!

 

[koolaidmoms]

We loved GG. There is a review in my blog, with a couple pictures, (link at bottom of page) of our trip in April. We also went this past trip (I have not posted that yet) and had another good meal.

It is our favorite for character interaction as they seem to take quite a bit of time and don't seem as rushed as other places.

Hope this helps some.

 

[mickey916]

We ate there last Tuesday and Loved IT ..It was one of the best meals all week .The adult meal was Flank steak, Mashed potatoes, Turkey and stuffing, and our fish was Mahi Mahi with mixed veggies. The kids platter had Chicken nuggets, Mac and Cheese and French Fries. Kids could eat off either platter and they refilled it as much as you wanted.

I just added Garden Grill as our first night meal, since we got an earlier flight than planned, so I'm glad to hear a good review. Just curious, since my "kids" are 11 and 13, will we only get "adult" food or will we get a kid platter too? My kids eat anything so if it's only "adult" food, that's okay, but I'd like some mac n cheese!

 

[ireland_nicole]

I've heard that the character interaction is a lot less rushed than other meals, it sounds like y'all are confirming that. Thanks again, I'm feeling better about DS's choice.

 

[nicole0992]

GG is my daughter's favorite restaurant in all of WDW. She still raves and talks about our meal there in June. We also at @ CRT and many other character meals since we had deluxe dining but GG was her favorite. She ate more at that meal than anywhere else. It was my least favorite meal food-wise (food wasn't bad more that I don't like catfish or turkey) but best character interaction was the best of all.