On my latest trip to Disney (the week before Thanksgiving 2014) I wanted to try a few new things that I have never done before. This was an adult only trip with myself and other agents from House of Mouse Travel. I did google search after google search of Disney blogs and looked for something unique that would strike my fancy...well I found it. I LOVE tea and often get out my nice tea set that I received as a gift (thanks Mom!) and brew a pot of tea, all the while pretending I am part of some great British nobility in the early 1900's...Lady Elizabeth (Don't judge me, I watch too much Downton Abbey)...anyway, I stubbled across Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian Resort. I knew there was a Perfectly Princess Tea Party at the Grand Floridian for young kids, but I didn't realize they also had an Afternoon Tea between 2:00 and 5:00 pm in the Garden View Tea Room that is suitable for adults. The first few days of the trip was only going to be myself and one other agent so I was crossing my fingers that I was able to find a reservation for two. Thankfully I found ONE reservation available. It actually worked out rather nicely because we were going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party that night, so we had our tea at Grand Floridian, then hopped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom!
If you are looking for a nice Mother/Daughter date, or a nice quite afternoon with friends, this is the place! It is such a nice break from the parks and the perfect place to come and relax. Advanced dining reservations are highly recommended if this is something you want to do.
The Garden View Tea Room is open to the lobby but it has big windows in the back that allows light to come in from outside. Starting at 3:00pm you can hear music in the lobby from either the Grand Floridian piano player or the live band.
We sat down at our table and received our menu
If you are looking for a nice Mother/Daughter date, or a nice quite afternoon with friends, this is the place! It is such a nice break from the parks and the perfect place to come and relax. Advanced dining reservations are highly recommended if this is something you want to do.
The Garden View Tea Room is open to the lobby but it has big windows in the back that allows light to come in from outside. Starting at 3:00pm you can hear music in the lobby from either the Grand Floridian piano player or the live band.
We sat down at our table and received our menu
I chose the Buckingham Tea which included 3 courses and a pot of tea of my choice for a very reasonable $25. (I know tea rooms outside of Disney in other cities that cost a lot more than that for the same amount of food and tea! This price could have gone up since November 2014) I chose a seasonal selection called Nutcracker for my pot of tea. It is a blend of Ceylon black tea infused with the rich flavors of hazelnut and aromatic vanilla. My friend chose the Buckingham Tea as well, and her pot of tea was Mad Hatter's Tea Party. It is medium bodied Ceylon tea leaves scented with the essential oils of vanilla and natural fruits, including passion fruit and pomegranate. Both teas were very good.
Our first course included assorted tea sandwiches and an onion tart (which I thought would be kind of weird tasting but was actually ridiculously good!) The five finger sandwiches were cucumber watercress, egg salad, chicken curry, beet with goat cheese, and roasted tomato with pesto. My favorite sandwich was probably the chicken curry.
Our next course was a buttery scone and jam tart. The scone came with butter, lemon curd and a jam...it...was...so...good!! I just piled all the condiments on my scone and ate away! The lemon curd and jam were delicious and the scone was so moist! After the sweetness of the scone I could barely finish my jam tart. If I had one suggestion, I wish they would bring the scone first and the sandwiches second, because after the sweetness of the scone the last thing on my mind was picking a dessert for my third course...but I did it anyway :)
For the third and finale course you could choose between delicate house-made pastries, strawberries and creme, or english trifle. I chose the strawberries and creme...because, well lets be honest, I wanted to see the GF in the creme. And it makes a nice picture! It actually was a good choice for me because after the scone I didn't want anything too sweet, and the strawberries were just tart enough and the creme wasn't overly sweet that it was just what I needed!
I really wasn't expecting to leave there full, but I did! Of course not full enough that I couldn't still enjoy some cookies and hot chocolate at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party :) hehe!
My overall opinion is that I really loved and enjoyed the Afternoon Tea! I would absolutely do it again!
My overall opinion is that I really loved and enjoyed the Afternoon Tea! I would absolutely do it again!