How loud does Garden Grove get?

[NOLA_Tink]

With Garden Grove's 20% AAA discount, it seems like their Friday dinner & Sunday brunch prices can't be beat for a character meal. I heard the acoustics are a little wonky and my 3-y-old gets easily overstimulated in loud restaurants. How loud does it get for dinner and breakfast? TIA!

 

[JZCubed]

With Garden Grove's 20% AAA discount, it seems like their Friday dinner & Sunday brunch prices can't be beat for a character meal. I heard the acoustics are a little wonky and my 3-y-old gets easily overstimulated in loud restaurants. How loud does it get for dinner and breakfast? TIA!

We stay at Swan & Dolphin and also enjoy the AAA (or DVC) discounting for the non-character buffet at Fresh.

And my wife just asked why we've not gone back to Garden Grove (we were at Disney last weekend).

Ya'know, we've not been back since the refurbishing (2-years ago??), but I'm also sensitive to sound (more so with my new hearing aid) and have no recollection of it being noisy there. What I remember about the room being weird is the tree in the center of the dining room, but not the noise level.

FWIW, I recommend Marrakesh for the food value, but personally avoid the place because of the noise. I more recently had problems at Boathouse.

One thing that might help you is making early reservations - dining rooms with fewer people trend to mitigate noise-levels. But as a former restaurant professional, I will also mention that a slow kitchen may not produce the best quality food (which is somewhat meaningless for buffets).

And I apologize if this offends anyone - but if sound is a particular problem, you may also search around Disability and/or Autism threads to see what advice they might have.

 

[NOLA_Tink]

Thanks for your helpful feedback!! It's very appreciated.

P.S. That's really good to know about Makkaresh! I haven't been there since 2005 and I hadn't thought about the noise level. When we were at Biergarten last year, DH & I just took turns on the dance floor with him. He wouldn't eat a thing because he was way too overstimulated by the crowd & band, but he LOVED dancing on the dance floor & I got a few hilarious pictures of him.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thanks for your helpful feedback!! It's very appreciated.

P.S. That's really good to know about Makkaresh! I haven't been there since 2005 and I hadn't thought about the noise level. When we were at Biergarten last year, DH & I just took turns on the dance floor with him. He wouldn't eat a thing because he was way too overstimulated by the crowd & band, but he LOVED dancing on the dance floor & I got a few hilarious pictures of him.

We've eaten at Garden Grove a few times (LOVE the AAA discount!) and noise was never an issue. I agree with PP, the tree in the middle is slightly odd, LOL!

If your DS doesn't like noise, I would avoid TRex in DS like the plague. It is SO loud in there! You may also want to avoid QS in Norway (or at least find alternate seating). They have metal chairs at their tables and when they are dragged on the concrete floor it makes the most horrendous noise (think nails on a chalkboard!)

 

[JerseyJanice]

We ate there last September and were seated off to the side along the outer ring of the restaurant. It seemed quieter and calmer there than it did when we were seated in the middle of the place in 2016.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We have sat both by the tree and outer rim. The outer rim is less visually stimulating as well.

I don't think the place is noisy at all. It's rather sedate.

 

[Best Aunt]

We ate at Rainforest Cafe years ago and my niece hated it. It "storms" in there.

 

[keishashadow]

Are the AAA & AP discount both 20%?

 

[NOLA_Tink]

Thanks for the awesome feedback & suggestions! I think this will be our one & only TS meal during this trip & it sounds like it has the factors for success.

 

[SwanVT2]

Not to hijack the thread, but I have read reviews of Garden Grove on Tripadvisor and they are either super positive or lousy. We are staying at the Dolphin and I was curious about Garden Grove. What does Disboard think? My husband is a big seafood fan, and we have a 5 year old, so maybe the dinner buffet is worth it? But I have a great fear of food poisoning with seafood buffets, too? Gah! Thanks for any feedback.

 

[NOLA_Tink]

Not to hijack the thread, but I have read reviews of Garden Grove on Tripadvisor and they are either super positive or lousy. We are staying at the Dolphin and I was curious about Garden Grove. What does Disboard think? My husband is a big seafood fan, and we have a 5 year old, so maybe the dinner buffet is worth it? But I have a great fear of food poisoning with seafood buffets, too? Gah! Thanks for any feedback.

FWIW, when I called the restaurant to make a reservation, the hostess was raving about how amazing the seafood buffet is. She also said the prime rib and chicken were just as tasty as the rest of the spread. Personally, I love a good salad bar, some fresh soup, and a little something sweet to end my meal. I might try the other stuff, but I'm really just doing it just because my toddler loves Chip & Dale and Goofy (and b/c of the proximity to BWI).

 

[NOLA_Tink]

Wanted to report back that we had an awesome experience for the Sunday breakfast buffet! We actually went the weekend before Valentine's Day and every hotel was booked to max capacity due to Mardi Gras, UCA cheerleading, and V-Day weekend. Thankfully, everyone must have been in the parks because Garden Grove was almost empty around 10 a.m. The noise level was really low and the characters were lots of fun. My son had a blast and enjoyed every minute of interaction with Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale. We also really enjoyed the buffet- especially the mini smoothies, Mickey waffles with Nutella, fresh fruit, mini chocolate croissants, and omelet station. Truly couldn't be beat for $20/person! This place is on the top of our list for future trips.