Lunch @ GG -- A little whining

[Bichon Barb]

We (myself, DH, DS9 and DS7) have a lunch PS for Garden Grill. This is the one character meal we have planned. I made the mistake of checking the price for the meal on Deb's site. Now I'm not sure if I want to pay $75 or $80 (after tax and tip) for lunch. I don't mean to be cheap, but ouch, it's lunch!!

Is the character interaction really good? And the scenery? I guess I just need someone to either hold my hand or kick me in the butt .

 

[JOC]

We ate at Garden Grill last April and the character interaction was great! In fact, all the characters came around at least four or five times each during our meal. We also had great character interaction at the Hollywood and Vine character lunch at MGM.

 

[lizzie64]

I agree with JOC.

We had the character lunch here in 2001. It was fabulous. We thought the food was great and the character interaction was terrific. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale all came around several times.

Funny story. I was nursing my 3 month old at the table when Mickey was coming by. I couldn't get him off fast enough when Mickey came by and wanted to take a picture with the baby. Then he realized what was going on and covered his eyes with his hands. It was sooo funny.

Anyway, ahh the memories, you'll have a great meal here. We've already booked it for our next trip this May.

 

[JulesMom]

Yes, it's expensive, but it's one of my favorite meals.

We eat until we are stuffed. And my kids & DH(very picky eaters) like it and eat a lot.

We have been on almost every trip

 

[disneyvoice]

It's definately worth the price. My DH and I went last year with our 5 month old son. This was his first ever character interaction and they were fabulous with him. The hostess told the characters that he had never seen any characters before so they were very careful when they approached him. Chip and Dale each spent about ten minutes with him, just letting him pull on their noses, chew on their hands, touch their eyes, etc. We have the whole thing captured on video and it's priceless.

We originally balked at the price as well but now it's our favorite restaurant. We think it's the best food in WDW, it's so nice to find some veggies!!! I would suggest getting a PS for the first seating and getting their a bit early. We were the first one's on the restaurant for lunch so we ended up with some special attention and more time with all the characters. We were so pleased with GG that we made sure to fill out a commendation form at Guest Services for all the characters, our waiter, the hostess and the chef. We made a comment to out waiter about how much we loved the food (especially the flank steak) and he brought the chef out so we could personally tell him how much we enjoyed it. He even told us his recipe for the marinade. This is one restaurant that we will always go back to.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Well there it is! Off to Garden Grill we go! I'm not a fan of freshwater fish, but I can't wait to try the catfish.

This will be our first day in the parks, so I think it will be cool for the kids to have lunch with the characters.

Thanks for the stories.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

If the price is what is bothering you, you could always do the Ice Cream Social. It's held daily at 3pm. It's at the Garden Grill and has all the same characters. It's about $7 a person.

 

[renessa]

Or....take a very late lunch. Grab a quick bite at lunch (or a snack) and then wait till 3 or so to do your PS for lunch. Maybe then you won't feel bad about the price. If your group pigs out, then you won't have to eat dinner! Just be sure to ask for the latest priority seating during lunch. You will be sure to get lots of attention from the characters because the restaurant will be nearly empty. We did this at the Crystal Palace once, and Tigger "napped" on the booth next to us while Pooh pulled up a chair. We dined with the characters! Ren

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Don't skip the character meal. The children are still at the age that they will love the interaction with the characters. Yes, the price is high but so worth it. As others have suggested, make this the only big meal of the day. A light breakfast and then an early lunch or a late lunch and a snack for dinner. Another way we stretch our food budget is to take easy breakfast foods from home and have breakfast in the room. We often make lunch the big meal of the day and then grap a light dinner at the food court of the resort. Budget for the special things and then try to cut your budget in other places.


Jordan's mom