Thoughts on Garden Grill please

[kathy23]

Hi everyone! Can you please share your experiences with the Garden Grill. How is the food? My seven year old son mentioned that he wanted to see Chip and Dale and I am not really sure where else to find them. We are not on the meal plan so it would be pretty expensive but we would do it if it was a good place. The other option I am considering is Via Napoli. (I know...completely different) Thanks so much!

 

[oktxregulators]

I thought the character interaction was above average, food below average. When we went the floor was not rotating which took away from the vibe. We tried it once for the experience, I doubt we would do it again.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

You can see Chip and Dale for free at the Campfire Singalong at Fort Wilderness.

I like the breakfast at Garden Grill. Not so crazy about their dinner food.

 

[CalSea12]

I like both breakfast and dinner... we always leave so full! The beef at dinner is amazing. I will say it's worth it for the money, it's family style though so its not going to have a lot of variety. If your the meat and potatoes kinda person it will work well. If you find a favorite item (for us it's the beef and mashed potatoes) they will keep bringing you more of that item.

Dessert is really good too... just wish they had ice cream instead of whipped cream.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I was just there on Monday for lunch. The character interaction was great. We liked the food very much. I particularly liked the turkey, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese. I think my 18 month old would have eaten all of the pot roast if I'd let him. We had a good time there and I recommend it.

 

[MarBee]

We have only tried dinner there and thought it was really good. The character interaction was awesome too. We are trying breakfast the next trip, and my kids are still trying to convince me to go to dinner there too

 

[Sked081899]

Pot roast and honey butter!! We ant to go back just for those! My kids also loved the rotation, checking out living with the land, and the characters. We were on the dining plan though so we felt good about the cost because we were getting our money's worth.

 

[alliecat523]

On every trip so far we've seen Chip and Dale in Epcot greeting guests for free. No ADR required. They are usually in Future World in a shady area directly across from The Land. If you're walking towards the pavilion from the park entrance it would be on your left.

They also meet in MK in Frontierland.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Which meal are you asking about? I have only done breakfast, and it is delicious. The character interaction is great as well. We have done most of the character meals on property and GG is our favorite

 

[Amanda999]

If you want to save the $$, my DS loves the meet/greet with Chip and Dale at AK. (Double check with kenny the pirate if my info is still accurate though!) You take a lovely train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, where you meet them both - sometimes separate lines, but still far fewer people bother to go out there. THey have a small (goat?) petting zoo/brush their hair area, and an animal hospital. Sometimes another character meet too. Its nice - alot of younger kids. Good AC in the vet building.

 

[Geomom]

We've done lunch and dinner at Garden Grill and really enjoyed both. Love that it rotates above The Land ride, ask to sit in the lower section if possible for better views. Character interaction is fantastic. Chip and Dale are SO funny, and this time we had funny Pluto and Farmer Mickey. We went this past February with family (had to sit in the upper section as we were a group of 6 with 1 in a wheelchair.) Dale had us in tears laughing. We had all the characters at our table multiple times due to all the antics. I haven't laughed that hard in years. They were also great with dietary restrictions for 1 member of our party--they ended up getting her a rotisserie chicken from Sunshine Seasons downstairs as she cant' have gluten or citrus. Also lots of gluten free bread/desserts.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

My experience is limited to breakfast, but GG is top of our list for charachter interaction. They stay at your table longer here than other charachter dining we've done, and they usually come by at least twice, if not more. The lighting is bright and we tend to get some of the best interaction photos there.

The breakfast food istself is typical Disney AYCTE stuff, but get's the job done.

I like GG as an Epcot PPO ADR. We were the first table to sit one morning and had all of the charachters "hang out" at our table for nearly 5 minutes. It was great and DS was all smiles.

Have fun!

 

[Barbydoll8]

Done both breakfast and lunch. Lunch is much more prefered. The character interaction is fantastic here. The breakfast food was ok. Way too many carbs for us. Lunch was much better and very fresh. Not gourmet mind you but good.
But as others have posted, Chip & Dale are available elsewhere. Especially in the campground. Have dinner at Trails End (great BBQ at really fair pricing for Disney) and then either walk or take a bus to the camp fire. Chip & Dale do a sing a long and they sell s'mores kits if you are so inclined.
They also meet in the parks at several places.

 

[momto4obkids]

We really liked the dinner we went to last year. Chip and Dale are excellent there! My picky grandson actually ate some of the food too which was a miracle if you knew how picky he is!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

If you want to save the $$, my DS loves the meet/greet with Chip and Dale at AK. (Double check with kenny the pirate if my info is still accurate though!) You take a lovely train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, where you meet them both - sometimes separate lines, but still far fewer people bother to go out there. THey have a small (goat?) petting zoo/brush their hair area, and an animal hospital. Sometimes another character meet too. Its nice - alot of younger kids. Good AC in the vet building.

I was in this exact area this March, and Chip and Dale were not there anymore, so I'd suggest any of the other locations already mentioned in this thread.

 

[alltwelve]

According to the MDE app, Chip and Dale are currently doing meet and greets at Frontierland and Commissary Lane at the Studios. Of course that's subject to change, but I feel like Chip and Dale are the characters that you see on every WDW visit, so they would almost definitely be doing a meet and greet somewhere during your trip.

As for Garden Grill, if you've never been there before, you will probably enjoy it. It used to be a family tradition to go there on our "Epcot Day", but we stopped going when the food started to go downhill and it no longer justified the price. We even remember when they used to give each person in the dining party a straw hat as part of the meal (ah, the good old days! lol). The food is still decent there though, but not worth $60 IMO. You just have to remember that you're paying for the whole experience (ambiance of a rotating restaurant, characters, interaction with the server, etc.), so once you factor that in, it may not as painful to pay that much for turkey and pot roast.

If you do opt for the Campfire Singalong in lieu of Garden Grill, just remember Chip and Dale don't really have a queue with anxious little ones holding autograph books at the campground. Its more of an interaction, with a guitar player and dancing with the chipmunks. Its lots of fun for the kids- they really enjoy it, but I realize some parents prefer the perfect photo op with the autograph book filled out, and you may not get that at this location.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

At the Campfire Singalong, each of the two chipmunks visits one half of the audience for a meet and greet, with opportunity for you to take your own photo. So you get to meet either Chip or Dale as they go through the audience. You would not have to wait in a line, as you would be at your seat on the benches.

I do enjoy the rotating views from the Garden Grill.

 

[Jfsag123]

We had breakfast at Garden Grill last summer and loved it. The food was pretty standard, but good, and the character interaction was wonderful. My kids got to scratch Pluto's nose while he kicked and danced with Dale.

 

[VillainFavs]

We are a one and done family with Garden Grill. Went for dinner and thought the food was really sub-par. Just very bland, no real flavor to anything. And it's family style, so you get what you get. No real choice in dishes or variety like a buffet. Service was terrible, very inattentive. Personally, I don't care for the semi-round booths for our family. Just seems awkward to have family conversation over dinner. Characters were fine, but nothing over the top. Entire family agreed we wouldn't be back.

A choice between that and Via Napoli??? Not even a moment of hesitation--Via Napoli in an instant and find Chip and Dale in one of the parks!

 

[jsternad]

One of my favorite character breakfasts! I think the food is great and the characters are awesome. We usually stick to breakfast buffets/character meals, so I don't know about dinner.