Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room – A Review!

Today I am SO excited to share with you an often-over-looked experience at Walt Disney World…Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room!  Every trip to Disney has had a *FOODIE EXPERIENCE* highlight for me.  In 2012, we were blown away by the outstanding service at Tony’s in Magic Kingdom.  In 2015, we were absolutely delighted with the food and character interactions at Garden Grill in EPCOT.  Well, our most recent trip (in 2020) was EXTRA special as we were celebrating our wedding in Disney World!  We treated ourselves.  We had dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, Club Level access in Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs, and even the After-Fireworks Dessert Party in Magic Kingdom.  But I have to tell you, the eating highlight for me on this trip was HANDS DOWN our Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room! 

We made reservations at the Garden View Tea Room for something special to do on our departure day.  After spending soooo much money on this trip already, I was strongly considering cancelling our reservation.  “Do we really NEED to do Afternoon Tea after we have had so many other great experiences?!”  YES!!!  YES, WE DID! 

I was SO happy with this experience; I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.  The food, atmosphere, tea and service were absolutely perfect.  My husband and kids were in love.  I highly recommend making reservations for your group as a special relaxing treat, whether you are fans of drinking tea or not!  This experience would be perfect for non-park days or a special occasion.  I keep dreaming of returning with my mom and daughters someday and making it a girls outing.

Garden View Tea Room Atmosphere

Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room is a traditional British tea served in the lavish style you would expect from the Grand Floridian.  This experience is meant to be relaxing and indulgent. Guests experience international teas provided by Twinings of London and enjoy three courses of tea sandwiches and patisseries, typical of a traditional British tea service. 

The atmosphere at the Grand Floridian is stunning, and the Garden View Tea Room is no exception.  The Tea Room itself is filled with natural light from the large windows overlooking the gardens and pool area of the resort.

Reservations

Afternoon Tea takes place from 12pm-4pm daily.  I highly recommend making Advance Dining Reservations if you can, as the Tea Room itself is not overly large, and can potentially fill up.  If you time your reservation right, you can also enjoy the Grand Floridian Lobby Pianist or the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra playing live music each day at 3pm. 

The Garden View Tea Room is located towards the back of the first-floor lobby.  Guests check in at the host stand outside the entrance, and are then brought to their table.  Tables are pre-set with beautiful floral-patterned teacups, sugar bowls, and settings.

Afternoon Tea Experiences

There are three different tea experiences you can order when attending Afternoon Tea:

The Bedfordshire Tea ($35) includes the Traditional Afternoon Tea Experience (with your choice of tea), a variety of finger sandwiches, traditional scones and accompaniments, and a choice of dessert.

The Cheshire Tea ($50) is comprised of everything included with the Bedfordshire Tea as well as a cheese and fruit plate.

The Berkshire Tea ($150) is meant to be shared between two guests.  This experience includes everything from the Bedfordshire Tea as well as Locally Sourced Sturgeon Caviar.  This experience does NOT include the cheese and fruit plate from the Cheshire Tea.

Guests can also add a glass of champagne to any order!

Mrs. Potts Tea ($23.79) is for guests ages 3-9.  Served with chocolate milk as the “tea” selection, this experience includes an approachable selection of tea sandwiches for kiddos (tuna salad, ham & cheese, and peanut butter & jelly), a jam tart, and choice of dessert.

We each decided to order the Bedfordshire Tea for my husband, 11-year-old, and myself.  My lucky 3-year-old got to enjoy the Mrs. Potts Tea (and boy did she ever!).  In addition to ordering which Tea Experience you would like, you also choose your own personal pot of tea as well as your dessert selection. 

The Teas

There are sooo many different tea selections to choose from, it was hard to narrow it down to one!   I love floral teas, so I decided to go with the Fig & Rose White Tea.  My 11-year-old ordered the Rose Garden, and my husband the Zanzibar Chai.  Each guest gets their own pot of tea with their order, so I recommend everyone trying something different and sharing!  If you are not a fan of tea (or are unsure of which direction to go) don’t be afraid to talk with your server.  They are very accommodating and will get you some great recommendations. 

After placing our order, our tea pots were brought out.  The tea was brewed to perfection (no need to worry about steeping or removing tea bags on your end)!  Each tea pot comes with an adorable tea cozy to keep your tea at the perfect temperature.  We were all incredibly happy with our tea selections, and we are not big tea drinkers!  If you are looking to take home a souvenir from this experience, the Tea Room sells many of the tea selections in 15-count boxes for $11.99. 

First Course: Medley of Finger Sandwiches

In traditional British style, the tea sandwiches and pastries are served on tiered trays.  It makes for quite a beautiful display!  A traditional tea will have the first tier (and first course) containing tea sandwiches and savories, followed by scones and accompaniments on the middle tier, and the desserts rounding out the experience on the top tier.

The Tea Sandwiches each guest receives include: Tantalizing Cucumber, Sweet Curry Chicken, Traditional Egg Salad, Poached Pear and Gorgonzola Cream Cheese, Fire Roasted Tomato with Oregano Goat Cheese, and a Caramelized Onion Tartlet.  I kept waiting for one of these savories to disappoint (especially considering I am not a cucumber fan in the least), but each one was better than the last!  Even my 11-year-old was a fan. 

If you are feeling unsure about a particular offering, your server can swap out any sandwich for another.  Even the peanut butter & jelly from the Mrs. Potts Tea, if that more your “jam” 😉.

Second Course: Scones and Accompaniments

I was so happy with the first course, I figured there was no way a simple scone could even compare.  “What’s so special about a scone?”  Again, I was SHOCKED and WOWED with the quality of the scone and accompaniments we received!  This course included a Buttery Golden Raisin Scone with a Strawberry Preserve Tart.  These pastries are accompanied by Devonshire Clotted Cream, Lemon Curd, and Strawberry Jam.  Feel free to mix and match the clotted cream with the curd and jam in whatever fashion you choose; you can’t go wrong here!  I’m sure all of this gushing about how AMAZING everything was is getting annoying at this point haha.  So I will say that the jam tart was just fine…not AMAZING…but still quite delicious. 

After already feeling happy and contented with the first two courses, I eagerly looked forward to what the dessert course would bring. 

Third Course: Desserts

For desserts, guests can select between the Delicate House-made Pastries (including a Mousse-Filled Swan Pastry, French Macarons, and Chocolate Covered Strawberry), Strawberries and Cream, or the Seasonal English Trifle (this changes frequently, at the time of our visit it was a Bananas Foster Trifle).  Seeing as there were three of us, we each decided to order something different and share!

Delicate House-Made Pastries

We first tried the Delicate House-made Pastries.  Now, you can’t go wrong with a Chocolate Covered Strawberry; it was as juicy and sumptuous as you could ever desire.  Moving on to the Mousse-Filled Swan…it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.  I felt bad cutting into it because it really was a work of art!  But I am glad we did because it was one of the highlights of the meal.  The pastry was perfectly soft and flaky, and the mousse inside was a gorgeous creamy texture. 

The French Macarons were another big surprise on this eating journey.  We have had Macarons at several locations on property and received MORE THAN our fill on our last trip, with the nightly offering available with Club Access at Gran Destino Tower.  I have always thought they were fine, but not really the dessert for me.  The French Macarons served at Garden View Tea Room’s Afternoon Tea were on ANOTHER LEVEL!  They were the best macarons I have had in my LIFE.  They were perfectly soft and creamy on the inside with that beautiful crunch from the shell on the outside.  I am ashamed to say I cannot recall what flavors they were…all I know is that they tasted like HEAVEN. 

Fresh Strawberries Topped with Hand-Whipped Crème

Next up on our dessert tour was the Fresh Strawberries Topped with Hand-Whipped Crème.  While being a fairly simple offering, it was also very good.  The strawberries were fresh and juicy, and the whipped crème was rich and decadent.  Not to mention that gorgeous presentation!  If you are trying to keep things light, I would recommend ordering this.  But if you are really looking to treat yourself or try something new (you are on vacation after all!), I highly recommend the House-made Pastries OR…

Seasonal Trifle

The Seasonal Trifle!  Be sure to ask your server what the current offering is as they change frequently.  We were able to try the Bananas Foster Trifle during our visit, which came highly recommended by our server.  This dessert ranked up there with the House-made Pastries for me!  The trifle consisted of layers of Lady Fingers, Chantilly, Banana, and Hand-whipped Crème.  We were incredibly happy with this dessert offering, and I would love to go back and try some of the other seasonal offerings!

Afternoon Tea – Final Thoughts

As I mentioned before, I was absolutely beside myself with how beautiful this experience was.  The whole family was thrilled.  From the flavors of the food offerings, to the quiet and gorgeous atmosphere, and professional service; I really felt like I was being treated to something special.  This was the perfect experience for our departure day to help combat that Post-Disney Depression from setting in!

I highly recommend making reservations for Afternoon Tea on an upcoming trip to treat yourself…you deserve it!  This experience would be perfect for an arrival/departure day, as well as a relaxing rest day or celebratory experience.

Have you ever attended Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian?  How was your experience?  Do you think you would attend in the future?

While this is a rare treat to enjoy, I still love trying to bring that Disney Magic back home.  Click HERE to see how we created a Snow White Inspired Autumn Afternoon Tea or HERE to see our Cinderella Inspired Autumn Pumpkin Tea.  I hope you will find some inspiration to throw your own fabulous tea parties with friends or family!

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