Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Team Room - A First Hand Review
by DVP Laura Liden
In my never ending quest to try something new each trip, in October 2011, I opted to take my 10 year old daughter to the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for afternoon tea. I had heard much about how lovely this was and a great girly thing to do while the boys played in DHS by themselves for a while.
As I stated, the tea is located at the Grand Floridian in the Garden View Tea Room on the lobby level. It is open from 2 pm – 5 pm, 7 days a week and offers “Afternoon Tea in Grand British Tradition,” serving scones, tea sandwiches, and desserts along with a wide selection of teas. You will need to make ADR’s for this experience as I saw many people turned away who had not done this. The tea room is smaller than most restaurants on property and is meant for a leisurely break, not a quick snack.
When we arrived at the tea room for our 2:20 reservation, we checked in a few minutes early. Unlike most locations, we were not seated early, but were asked to wait until our seating time. Once seated, we were given our menus and told our server would be with us shortly. The table was set with beautiful china tea pots and cups, each fitted with a tea strainer, holders for the strainers, a sugar cube pot.
In my never ending quest to try something new each trip, in October 2011, I opted to take my 10 year old daughter to the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa for afternoon tea. I had heard much about how lovely this was and a great girly thing to do while the boys played in DHS by themselves for a while.
As I stated, the tea is located at the Grand Floridian in the Garden View Tea Room on the lobby level. It is open from 2 pm – 5 pm, 7 days a week and offers “Afternoon Tea in Grand British Tradition,” serving scones, tea sandwiches, and desserts along with a wide selection of teas. You will need to make ADR’s for this experience as I saw many people turned away who had not done this. The tea room is smaller than most restaurants on property and is meant for a leisurely break, not a quick snack.
When we arrived at the tea room for our 2:20 reservation, we checked in a few minutes early. Unlike most locations, we were not seated early, but were asked to wait until our seating time. Once seated, we were given our menus and told our server would be with us shortly. The table was set with beautiful china tea pots and cups, each fitted with a tea strainer, holders for the strainers, a sugar cube pot.
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The tables are small and our table for two was barely big enough for us. After looking over the menu, which has several tea packages – priced per person – along with a full a la carte offering, we made our decisions. My daughter opted for the Mrs. Potts Tea – an offering for the younger “tea lover”. It includes an assortment of tea sandwiches (tuna salad, ham & cheese, and peanut butter & jelly on white bread), magical dark tea (chocolate milk), and a choice of pastries (2). This option was $12 per child. |
I chose the Buckingham Tea package. This
included traditional tea sandwiches, a scone w/ jam, and an onion tart. Also
included was a choice of fresh strawberries and cream or a selection of fresh
baked pastries (2) and your choice of tea. This option was $23 per person.
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The tea I chose was Eros which was described as follows: medium bodied Ceylon, sweet mandarin orange with warm vanilla for sweet smooth & creamy finish. My daughter decided to try this tea also, versus of the “dark tea” which was no problem. All of the sandwiches were delicious. I especially enjoyed the pear one. I wish I had taken better notes on what each sandwich was – sorry, and the onion tartlet was AMAZING! The tea itself was very good. Between the two of us, we finished nearly the entire pot. To explain, they tea is served in a pot left at your table. They even have a velvet cover they place over the pot to keep it warm. As you would like more, you just remove that cover and fill your cup. My daughter really got into the whole experience, especially the “one lump or two?” bit and holding her pinkie up while sipping tea. Next up were the pastries and they were brought on a
beautiful silver platter. Each dessert was explained and you were offered your
choice of 2. My daughter chose the swan
cream puff and a fruit tartlette. I chose an éclair and a pumpkin flavored
cheese cake.
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We had a wonderful experience and would definitely love to
do it again. I highly recommend this for little princesses of any age, but
especially for the ones, like mine, who are on that bubble of “I’m too cool for
the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or other silly character stuff.” It was a great hour of girl time and
let her have something special to remember.
(Check with your DVP for updated pricing)
(Check with your DVP for updated pricing)
