Would you recommend ...(Epcot)

[Meka003]

You guys are all so helpful and I’m super torn so help me a decision.

For our Epcot day we plan on having one meal there (lunch) we have evening plans in Disney Springs.

My original thought was to just see what sounds good in the world showcase QS the day of.

After hearing many stories of how awesome Garden Grill is that made me think we have never be there and sounds yummy/fun.

But would be silly to go eat “American” food while at Epcot or is it a better choice.

It’s me, DH, DD(9 and not picky ),DS(5 who is 99%of the time vegetarian)

Thanks for any feedback

 

[aimfon]

You guys are all so helpful and I’m super torn so help me a decision.

For our Epcot day we plan on having one meal there (lunch) we have evening plans in Disney Springs.

My original thought was to just see what sounds good in the world showcase QS the day of.

After hearing many stories of how awesome Garden Grill is that made me think we have never be there and sounds yummy/fun.

But would be silly to go eat “American” food while at Epcot or is it a better choice.

It’s me, DH, DD(9 and not picky ),DS(5 who is 99%of the time vegetarian)

Thanks for any feedback

You really can’t go wrong with either. We love eating around the world and trying different foods from all the countries. We have also eaten at garden grill and it has been one of my favorite character meals that we have done. The food is great! If this will be your only Epcot day I would let your kids decide if they want to do a character lunch or not. We always do multiple Epcot days so we can eat all the food

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

We love GG as well as eating around the world, so we always fit both in by doing an early breakfast at GG then snacking around the world for lunch/dinner. You could probably do breakfast and some light snacking and still be hungry for your DS meal, depending what time it's at.

 

[kniquy]

We did garden grill for dinner. The food was decent but certainly not the best that we have had. The character meets were great and the fact that the restaurant moves around the Land is pretty unique. If your kids are not into the characters then i would look at other places. So many great options at epcot it makes it tough. It sounds like with your party - you might want to look at a variety of menus to see what will work for your parties likes/dislikes. I agree with PP that you might want to do breakfast, although looking at when your trip is going to be (Julyish) with the heat you might want a nice break in the afternoon.

It looks like your booking window is coming up (very exciting!!) You are always best to book something and if you change your mind about the reservation then cancel by the night before.

 

[KenHutch]

The character interaction at Garden can't be beat. The place is so small you will see the characters at least twice and maybe 3 times. The food is good. We spend 2 days at Epcot every trip and my 17 year old daughter picked this place for dinner again.

 

[bluejasmine]

I haven't done GG myself but sounds like it would be great for your family, maybe you can get a snack over in World Showcase, everyone gets a snack but each persons snack is from a different country and everyone can try it?

Do you have a TS meal planned at DS? If So Id either make the GG for right at the beginning of lunch or your DS TS meal later in the evening

 

[Mome Rath]

The only other thought I would offer is time; a TS at EPCOT for lunch would dictate a larger amount of time than QS whenever you want it. You'd have more flexibility with QS. I don't think anything is "silly" if it fits your fam! So, weigh everything out for yourself and see what would fit you guys best.

 

[Rwethereyet?]

Garden Grill is great, my kids that are almost the same age as your kids loved it. Watching my little one peek around the corner while he waited for the next character was a highlight from our last trip! We planned an early lunch at 11am which got us out of the hot sun and then we snacked around the world later in the afternoon. This worked out well for us since somebody is always hungry in my family.

 

[JZCubed]

You guys are all so helpful and I’m super torn so help me a decision.

For our Epcot day we plan on having one meal there (lunch) we have evening plans in Disney Springs.

My original thought was to just see what sounds good in the world showcase QS the day of.

After hearing many stories of how awesome Garden Grill is that made me think we have never be there and sounds yummy/fun.

But would be silly to go eat “American” food while at Epcot or is it a better choice.

It’s me, DH, DD(9 and not picky ),DS(5 who is 99%of the time vegetarian)

Thanks for any feedback

Epcot is boring enough for young children (and even some of us adults), so I'm not sure why you'd want two sit-down meals for lunch and dinner....unless you went to Coral Reef just to enjoy the uniquely-Disney room......

World Showcase has plenty of kiosks for both fun and adventuresome eating.

And, Sunshine Seasons is 'not your typical' cafeteria - that will have something for everyone.

If there is one place where you don't need a plan for eating - especially if you have a plan to be at Disney Springs - it's Epcot.

My vote: 'wing-it' inside Epcot (or Coral Reef for the room with a view).

P.S. If you can walk-up to Spice Table for a waterside table, that's very relaxing.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Garden Grill is a rotating venue. In addition to the characters you will also get to see some of the living with the land ride as well.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you are looking for good food, GG is not the place to go. The draw, IMHO, for that restaurant are the characers and the novelty of a spinning restaurant. There is far better food to be had in WS, even at the QS locations.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

You mentioned that your DS is mostly vegetarian, so I thought I'd throw out that Garden Grill gave me my own vegetarian platter that was delicious. It included a veggie loaf (sort of a meatloaf made of veggies) with a basic tomato sauce, mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese with goldfish, fries, veggies, in addition to the salad, bread, and dessert that everyone gets. I'm not sure how picky he might be, but it seemed like a lot of kid friendly foods, even for a vegetarian and it was all delicious. The world showcase does have a lot of options, but unless he's adventurous enough to eat Mediterranean food, there's not a ton of quick service FULL meal options for vegetarians. I will throw out there that the cheese empanadas at the Mexico QS are a good vegetarian option for kids as well and there is a Vegan Korma at Sunshine Seasons made with a Garden meat substitute, but if he's not familiar with meat substitutes, that may be a little adventurous, and I think it's only available as an adult entree.

If your kids are into characters, I would definitely do Garden Grill. The character interaction seriously can't be beat. We went to 5 character meals during our last trip and the interaction at Garden Grill was by far the best. Pluto, during his second time around, spent at least 10 mins on the floor with my toddler, listening to him babble and point at different scenes from Living With the Land. They played peek-a-boo and had their own full blown conversation with gestures that my toddler seemed to totally understand. I have pics of CMs who came over and were cracking up at their interaction -it's like they were in their own world that only the two of them understood. It was absolutely magical and possibly my favorite memory from the trip.

Anyway, my vote is for Garden Grill.

 

[gharter]

You didn't say when you were going, but if one of the many festivals is going on, i would do lunch by snacking your way around the World Showcase pavillions and kiosks. If you can't find something good to eat in one of the many kiosks, you aren't looking very hard. Our problem is too many things look really good.

 

[DJFan88]

The quick service options around the countries are varied and good. Id go with one of those, or break up briefly and do a couple of those based on peoples tastes.

 

[christmasmagic]

My DD asked for GG I was hesitant because I do love eating around the world, but we did love GG breakfast. It was a great way to start the day! Personally, I am not a huge DS fan and would actually say do GG breakfast and then when you get hungry, eat around the world. I know some people say EPCOT is boring for kids, but my whole family loves it and we can easily spend two days there.

 

[fhtpdw20]

You might also be interested in the Behind the Seed tour. If your vegetarian son would like to see where some of the food from Garden Grill is grown, you all might enjoy it. It is about an hour- hour and a half long and kids are welcome. If you ride living with the land and see people in the "ride", they are folks on the tour.

 

[oceanmarina]

The character interaction at Garden can't be beat. The place is so small you will see the characters at least twice and maybe 3 times. The food is good. We spend 2 days at Epcot every trip and my 17 year old daughter picked this place for dinner again.

Yep to that. Garden Grill is fantastic and the character interaction can't be beat!