Picky eaters return to WDW! Garden View Tea - what a bummer added

[Minnie]

Okay I am now way past where my trip report is but I’m having such sharing my dining report with you all that I’m going to go ahead and write the next review.

It is fun to both commiserate with my fellow discriminating eaters (someone at work called me a picky eater so I came up with that instead) and those that have well more adventurous pallets. I just wanted to thank you all for posting!

Liberty Tree Tavern – for lunch

Now for some weird reason my mom doesn’t care for the Magic Kingdom and since she was really tired this trip, she had no interest on going after seeing my TGM itinerary. So she stayed behind and Stitch and I went commando through MK. (Don't worry we managed to grab extra fast passes and went on her favorite rides at the MK that evening. She didn't get to totally skip the MK )

Since we had time before our fast pass was up (what was up with those peeps waiting 90mins+ for BTMR??????? Anyways….. we decided to use our time more wisely and try to grab some lunch. I’d planned a quick counter service, but it was very hot and we had the time so we walked into LTT and asked for an opening for 2 and were granted with a yes! Cool scored our first walk up seating of the trip!

We sat for just a little while and then a family was called up stairs and rang the dinner bell. The funny thing was they used our name and state. You should have seen their faces…. It was soooo funny. Well it was until everyone got seated except us. I finally walked up and asked when we would be seated and got a very blank look. Apparently, no know told the seat assigner that they’d written down the wrong names…. Thankfully, they quickly seated us and since we’d had time to look at the menu we were ready to order.

With Stitch it is always difficult to decide how much to order. Sometimes he can eat me out of house and home and sometimes he takes a nibble and declares himself full. With the horrible heat we were experiencing I figured we’d just share a meal and get a snack later if he wanted one. This ended up being a great move as the portion here are huge. I definitely recommend sharing.

As Stitch wanted a cheeseburger and I decided that didn’t sound too bad after all we went ahead and ordered a bacon cheeseburger – plain – with fries and then I ordered the Declaration Salad - field greens and vegetables tossed with your choice of our tavern strawberry vinaigrette. The plan was to split the cheeseburger and then Stitch would eat the fries and I would eat the salad. And this worked like a charm…….

Until I cut the cheeseburger in half and the darn thing was still raw in side – yuck!!!!!! Now I know we are picky but this thing wasn’t just pink it was literally raw hamburger. I let the CM know and she quickly took the plate away and had a new one made. She was very apologetic but really we were fine with waiting. We just got out the park map and enjoyed the quiet time together of park planning. With life being so horribly busy, the times like these are so rare. Only in WDW do I really feel the weight of the worries of life leave my shoulders and life seems just a little sweeter.

Anyways, eventually I polished off the salad and our cheeseburger came back out. This time the CM waited until I had cut into it before leaving…. It was cooked perfectly and we enjoyed the remainder of our meal. Stitch barely made it through his half so I made the right ordering decision by the way. Oh and yes I did tip as normal as it wasn’t the CM’s fault the food came out bad.

I know the LTT gets poor review for the “Stovers” evening food, but if you’re in the mood for a respite in the middle of the busy “world” then stop on by and take a trip into the past. I bet you’ll be glad you did!

 

[AlisonUK]

Thanks for your reviews - I enjoyed reading them!

 

[TigerKat]

I've been reading so many good reviews of LTT for lunch I think we may try and walk up. Doesn't hurt to try!

 

[wilma-bride]

Really enjoying your reviews - we may try LTT for lunch next time we're in 'the World'

 

[Minnie]

Thanks for your reviews - I enjoyed reading them!

Thank you for posting

I've been reading so many good reviews of LTT for lunch I think we may try and walk up. Doesn't hurt to try!

If you try for a walk up, try to go about 11:15-11:30 time frame and you should be good as long as it's not during a holiday time frame. We've never had a bad meal here Thanks for posting

Really enjoying your reviews - we may try LTT for lunch next time we're in 'the World'

I hope you enjoy it! It's such a nice spot for a rest while you wait for your FPs to be ready Thanks for posting... I'll try to get the next one up soon

 

[Minnie]

We had looked forward all year to this dinner. A wonderful buffet with Pooh & Friends. I have pictures from either a CP breakfast or dinner from all of our trips. Some of the funniest moments are impromptu actions by the character that just seem to be like a magnet to my mom . Those pictures are priceless but so that I escape bodily injury incase she happens to read this…. I’ll play it safe and not post them

Anyways… we timed this meal perfectly so that we were done eating just in time to walk out on to the patio and have a wonderful view of wishes. Mom was even able to sit on a bench and watch, which was a first for us! Now we weren’t able to watch Spectro with this plan but we’ve seen that several times before so it worked for us. For those of you that have never seen Spectro I would definitely time it different

The CP is a buffet no matter which meal you choose. In this case of course it was dinner. We had just been seated and the characters were starting to come around. Thanks to a tip from the CM we waited until the close ones came by before heading off to the line as it takes 90 minutes for the characters to come back around So time your buffet times carefully! We found that during the parade was a great time as the lines were short and we were sure not to miss the characters as they take a brief “water break” in between the parade and the next rounds

The food was delicious as always. Perfectly cooked prime rib. Now I say this because of a little tip by mom found. If you ask for well done they will put a piece on the grill and it is wonderful! Otherwise it is wayyyyy to rare so if you’re picky like we are make sure to ask. The CM had no problem doing this! There were all kinds of offerings on the buffet. Rather than typing them all out just check out the following link for the variety… Something for everyone no matter how picky or how crazy his or her taste buds may be.

http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_cpd.htm

The deserts were wonderful! DS would surprised us by actually putting ready for this… sprinkles on his vanilla ice cream (will wonders never cease)! Must have been a bit of pixie dust in those chicken fingers!

I snagged a plate of a little of everything and it was a feast for the senses. One of my favorites was the tiramisu though mom didn’t care for it due to the coffee flavor

Now I have to admit this meal is a little on the expensive side for picky eaters. None of us are big eaters so we probably didn’t get our “money’s worth” if you just go by food alone. However, in WDW we really don’t think that way. We just love this meal; the characters and the beautiful location make it worth the cost for us

Personally, if you have a child that wants to see the characters… this is the only way!!!!! Money well spent when you consider the time you would have spent waiting in lines. All together a safe but a bit of expensive bet for the picky one in your family.

Next up Afternoon Tea & the Grand Floridian and oh my what did we get ourselves into..... oh and the priceless expression on mom's face

 

[Minnie]

Our trip happened to be over my mom’s birthday and after reading about the Afternoon Tea it seemed to be just the perfect way to enjoy a relaxing afternoon, which I knew my mom would enjoy. However, I didn’t realize something very important and it plays into my opinion of this event. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

I walked up to the podium to check us in and I let the CM know that we were celebrating my mom’s birthday. I had no idea what if anything they might do, but I figured I’d let them know just in case. What I should have let them know was something else entirely, but this uberplanner missed it big time and I still regret it.

Anyways, we were seated shortly and my son was relieved to see several other boys (age toddler to teen) at the tea. I told him it was for grandma and to suck it up beforehand, but he was relieved all the same.

We were seated at a cozy area in the middle of the tea. It was a nice spot with old-fashioned deeply padded chairs and small tables. Almost couch like in setting. The CM first offered us the menus and then a box with various teas. Though we smelled each kind, mom and I both ordered the Imperial English Breakfast - Elegant and refined smooth sweetness of a blend of Ceylon and China Black Teas, as we both prefer tea without fruit, flower, or citrus taste. Just the plain stuff for us thanks (surprise, surprise).

Mom and I then ordered The Grand Tea. Mom happened to notice a table with a glass of wine and strawberries, which sounded wonderful so it was an easy decision to select the offering with the wine. The Grand Tea came with the following:

The Grand Tea - The classic English tradition of Afternoon Tea, Grand Floridian style. We offer you a variety of tea sandwiches, scones and jam tarts, followed by your choice of our freshly baked tea pastries or English trifle, accompanied by a glass of Domaine Ste.-Michelle sparkling wine and your choice of tea. $25.50 per guest (Example of tea sandwiches may include: cucumber with watercress, shrimp salad with dill, chicken salad with almonds, grilled pear with gorgonzola, and egg salad, each on a different bread.)

Now the only thing that sounded even reasonable to actually eat from the tea sandwiches was the chicken salad. When I asked what was included I was informed that if I was picky it probably wasn’t for me. Now the CM might have offended some, but personally I was highly thankful for her frankness. It was almost like she was say… I can’t believe we have to serve that either”….. she offered to substitute the ham/cheese or peanut butter and jelly from the child’s tea and I quickly said plain ham and cheese please – very smart move on my part by the way

Mom decided to stick with the “variety” as she has noticed quick food go past with our standard chicken fingers and said we could hit the quick service afterward if it was awful…. At this point I think we probably should have bailed and went for the chicken fingers but I digress….

Son ordered the Mrs. Potts Tea which stated a - For the young tea lover in your party, we offer a variety of tea sandwiches, tuna salad, ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly on white bread. We serve our Mad Hatter tea (chocolate milk), followed by a choice of two pastries $10.50 per guest. He asked them to leave off the tuna salad and was thrilled with his “pot of tea” as he absolutely hates tea.

Son was a bit worried when the CM set the teapot in front of him. But when she poured the “magic tea” he was thrilled. Next she brought a teapot for mom and I to share as we had ordered the same tea. I had never had “loose” tea and made the mistake of pouring it directly into the tea cup (oops).
Eventually the tea sandwiches came out. I was thrilled with my choice though I admit it was an “expensive ham and cheese”

Mom found her sandwiches well interesting. She was doing okay until she hit the last one…. grilled pear with gorgonzola. Yep that dang gorgonzola again. The look on her face was priceless. I really wish I’d had my camera ready. I started laughing behind my napkin as her face turned a bit green. She had one heck of a time swallowing that “lovely” bite. Now before you all think I was mean I really wasn’t. I was laughing with her she just couldn’t laugh yet.

A nice chug of wine made the “medicine” go down in the most delightful way……

Anyways… next up comes the part where I could just kick myself. The CM brought out a plate with scones, jam, and a tart. The problem was that the jam and tart were both raspberry. Mom and I are both highly allergic to raspberries so we had to let the CM know that we couldn’t have it. Now I thought she’d just bring back the scones with a different jam or plain but she didn’t as the scones were in with the tart and there was cross contamination……

Major bummer!!!! The CM called the kitchen to find out not only could we not have the scones but not the pastries or trifle either. The only thing that was safe was the strawberries and cream, which was okay, but man I could have that at home any time. She said they also had chocolate brownies that we could have in place of our scones so we said okay.

The CM brought the pastries by for son as he doesn’t have the allergies. He chose a chocolate éclair and chocolate covered strawberry. He said it was okay, but my mouth was watering. I really wanted the swan and had figured on that from the last review I had read. Unfortunately, this time it had the darn raspberry filling so no swan for me…..

Next she brought out the bowl of strawberries and cream. I have to admit the strawberries were fresh and the cream was nice, but I have to admit I was a bit bummed out by the whole thing….

But it was about to get better….
When the brownies finally came they had stuck a candle in my mom’s and brought a birthday tiara out for her. They then announced her birthday and had the room sing to her. The look on her face was priceless. I do have a pic by the way but I’d better not post it or else (or that’s what I’ve been told)……

Overall, the experience was well less than “Grand”. It was definitely a one time experience for us and I really wouldn’t recommend it, especially to picky eaters. Really think about it for about $30 bucks I got:

Ham and cheese sandwich, pot of black tea, glass of wine, bowl of strawberries and cream and to top it off…. a stale packaged brownie

Yep we saw those nasty brownies in a quick service place later in the week. Not even the good fresh ones just the nasty packaged thing they popped on a plate

So for picky eaters I wouldn’t recommend this one at all. If you do decide to give it a try and you have any sort of allergies in the family please be sure to let them know clear back when u book it. Otherwise, a stale packaged brownie may just come your way

 

[wilma-bride]

What a shame your 'Grand Tea' wasn't quite so grand. I can't believe they weren't able to bring you some fresh scones, just with cream or something

Oh well, we live and learn. It is not something which has ever appealed to me anyway - if you're ever in the UK, though, feel free to pop by for afternoon tea and I will make you some scones

 

[lisaj]

Shame about the afternoon tea, enjoying the reviews though as you have been to many of the places we have booked for our trip.

 

[Luv2Roam]

You did a great job with the reviews. Very entertaining.

I am a picky eater. But you have me beat by far.
I have some friends who are picky eaters too. The wife refuses to eat red potatoes even. But I was shocked when at Concourse Steakhouse she was eating meat so raw I thought it may moo. (Yeah -- NO pink for me either! ) And I USE to pile ketchup on steak. But now I love Heinz 37.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Aww, that sucks about not being able to do the scones and tart! I wonder if you let them know in advance, if they would be able to prepare scones that were safe?

The tea is one of the few sit-down meals that we actually do- so yummy and relaxing!

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

yep, we are very very picky eaters, well me and my dd. dh will try anthing. this was the best post i ever read............it was so funny................im glad to know about the tea place, we were thinking of trying there cause i love tea, but i do not like any of those sandwiches......but anyhow, i am still laughing at some of this..........to funny......

 

[DisneyMom5]

Enjoying your report! Thanks!