Garden View Tea Room (garden View Lounge)

This is a pre-COVID review. We were really excited to have tea at the Grand and we made sure that we could fit it into our trip. The room is connected to the lobby of the Grand Floridian and the windows and lighting make it a beautiful place for tea. The service felt rushed on a Thursday. The food was ok. Liked the cozies and the Grand logos on everything, but the sandwiches, scone, and dessert were just ok. The scone was so disappointing and it was so bad compared to the scone you get served with the Flower and Garden tea tour. Overall, it was a fun experience to do once, but I don't think it's worth repeating. For the quality of food you get, it's just not worth the Disney prices. If you like an afternoon or high tea experience, this is just ok but if it's your first time and you want that Disney experience, this would be a good first time tea with young children.

Located in the lobby of the Grand Floridian. This lobby is insanely busy and the tea room is in the back corner. We came for afternoon tea and were sat in one of the many tables. First off, it was freezing in here. Had to be 90 degrees outside and cold inside. The menu was dirty as well so not sure what kind of attention they are taking in the little things here. Behind our table was sitting on a table was all the food for the afternoon tea. It seems pre-made and they just carry it over to you. As for the tea and food we had the Cheshire tea; english triffle dessert, homemade whipped creme with strawberries. The tea tasted like tea and had these cool football type things that kept the tea warm. The sandwiches were pretty good my personal favorite was the egg salad. The cream cheese with roasted peppers was also solid. The dessert was simple but hit the spot. The whipped cream and the strawberries worked great together as expected. The whipped cream is light and fluffy. This isnt a cheap afternoon tea but that is expected because #1 its disney and #2 its afternoon tea. Based on the quality I probably wouldnt come back or recommend.

This is still my absolute favorite Disney tradition that my group does every year. We get a break away from the Park and the fast paced nature that comes from attending a RunDisney runcation. We get some good food, delicious tea, and lots and lots of laughs. We usually snag one of the latest afternoon reservations and skip dinner. The Bedfordshire option is still more than enough. One thing that always makes dining with my group a different experience is we have a few allergies in our parties and the Garden View Tea Room makes them feel special and pampered throughout the ordering experience instead of an inconvenience. We have even managed to snag some mickey shaped ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when someone in our group isn't feeling the fancy sandwich options. I have continued to get the nutty chocolate tea each visit, because I find I crave it as soon as I know that I'll be returning to the Garden View Tea Room. This time I ALMOST got something else- but couldn't bring myself to place the order. I just love this one too much! There has only been one time that someone in our group didn't love the tea that they ordered and the staff was so nice to quickly switch it out to something they would enjoy. A huge shoutout to the staff here that makes our experience special. We absolutely ADORE Chef Mark and Chef Jose. They always come out to take great care of the people at our table with food allergies to make sure they are having a wonderful experience. Our favorite servers have been Patrick and Kiera. They serve us tea with a sense of humor to match our own. Thanks for the wonderful tradition and fun memories.

Not my favorite high tea, but it sure made me feel like a princess. I'm pretty sure I'm meant to be a princess. I often try to force my husband to treat me like one, but he only does it half heartedly sometimes (kidding, he treats me like a queen all the time, but he still won't buy me a tiara). So here is how it came that two women, their husbands, and a two-year came to have tea at the Grand Floridian. Originally it was supposed to be four women and a two year old, which, if you are assigning gender stereotypes, which I am, makes more sense at first glance. My friend, Keiko, and I were going to send out husbands to go ride roller coasters while we had tea with our friends and then we would all hang out at the park later. Two of our friends couldn't make it so our husbands got to step in as substitutes. Her husband was excited, mine was not, but luckily my husband and I have come to an understanding that he doesn't have to enjoy himself, he just has to do it. I had to make reservations about three months in advance. I don't really know why because it seemed like half the restaurant was empty, but there wasn't an earlier date available! It is located inside the Grand Floridian. There is a parking attendant at the entrance to the parking lot who scanned my wristband for the reservations. You can then park at the villas which is if you make a right and then another right before the tennis courts. Signage for self-parking once you get past the guard isn't great so hopefully you read this (or just ask the gate attendant)! My husband ended up sharing his tea with the two-year old, which meant he got the tea and she got all the food. There is a Mrs. Potts tea option for kids, but this kid is a foodie who enjoyed normal tea better. There are three tiers of tea and we went with the second, which is the basic tier plus a cheese and fruit plate. I wasn't entirely impressed with the cheese and fruit plate. I was glad they were mainly firm cheese, since I was pregnant and couldn't eat soft cheeses, but they also weren't very adventurous or particularly flavorful cheeses. I also wasn't a huge fan of the sandwiches. My favorite by far was the chicken curry one, but I'm a huge fan of curry. The rest of them were a little dry and not very memorable to me. I also found the scone too sweet and ended up not eating it. For dessert I chose the strawberries and cream, which was really good. For tea I went with the mint tea since I'm trying to avoid caffeine, but if you can drink caffeine, they have a great selection of tea! I enjoy how they bring a kind of muffler to put over the tea to keep it warm. That was really handy. Even though the food to me was mediocre at best, the atmosphere of this place is absolutely lovely. Also, it is super easy to hop on a monorail and go to the park afterwards. It saves so much time rather than parking, making it to the monorail station, and then getting to the park. Literally for those two reasons alone I have to say I will probably come back. I can't think of any other place I choose to return even though I found the food meh, but there's a first for everything. Also, if I have a baby girl, you better believe I will be here constantly taking pictures of us having a tea party!

This was my first high tea. I had always wanted to go to a traditional high tea and the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian didn't disappoint. I went with my cousin who has been to many, some of the ones she has gone to have been in Las Vegas, Scotland, and Ireland. She said this was one of the best she has had. The food was very good, I was very happy with the variety. There were five different small sandwiches made on different breads plus a tiny onion tart. I ordered the Earl Grey Tea, it was Twinings, and came in a large tea pot. The tea cozy that kept the tea warm was fantastic, I wish they would sell them (they don't). The sandwiches came on small individual plates so we each had our own set of five. Next came the three tiered plate serving stand with three plates. The plates are removable so you can take the plate of scone and a little tart out to eat right in front if you. The top tier had the desserts. We both ordered the cookie and chocolate strawberry assortment with the swan pat a choux. The tart and the scone were the best part of the food in my opinion. I had always wanted to try clotted cream but it tasted like butter to me. I liked the lemon curd and jam. The dessert assortment was also delicious. Al in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. The Grand Floridian hotel is gorgeous and so is the tea room. It is one of the most efficient hotels I have ever been To for just eating at a restaurant. The car valet service was prompt and polite and the matre'D of the tea room also very efficient. Our waitress was great but seemed a little overworked, she was running to get everybody served, perhaps they had a staff shortage that day, Saturday, Dec. 23.