Cheerio! And warm tidings from Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. We’ve had SO many reader requests for a re-review of this fun offering! Far be it from us to deny that desire!

There are so many foodie things we love about this resort, like the Chicken and Waffles at the Grand Floridian Cafe or the all-new Beauty and the Beast themed lounge, Enchanted Rose (check out our full review HERE!).

But recently we decided it was time for a spot of tea, so we stopped in to the Garden View Tea Room!

The Garden View Tea Room primarily offers two experiences: Afternoon Tea and the Perfectly Princess Tea Party.

The Afternoon Tea, which is what we attended, is currently available daily from 12pm-4pm. Advance Reservations are HIGHLY recommended as this is a very popular experience!

Atmosphere

Tea Time begins by checking into the Garden View Lounge, located at the back of the first-floor lobby.

Notice the gorgeous tile work outside the lounge — fitting, wouldn’t you say?

Hi there, Chip!

Though you’re inside for Afternoon Tea, there are design elements in the Garden View Lounge that are reminiscent of an outdoor garden — such as the latticework fencing that also serves as a privacy wall between you and the main lobby.

There are large mirrors on either side of the room, both seemingly handpainted with Floridian nature scenes.

There are huge windows along one side of the Lounge, which allow you to see outside into the gorgeous Grand Floridian gardens.

Overall, the space is rather small and somewhat simple, but still feels elegant!

Upon being seated, our table was arranged with lovely rose-patterned teacups…

…and a matching sugar bowl.

Upon closer inspection, we discovered the Sugar Bowl contained both white and raw sugar cubes for our tea!

Our server provided a menu, and now it was time for tea!

Eats

There are several different packages to select from when attending Afternoon Tea.

The Bedfordshire Tea ($35)  is the classic package and contains a pot of tea of your choice, tea sandwiches, a scone with accompaniments, and your choice of dessert. The Cheshire Tea ($50)  includes everything from the Bedfordshire Tea, in addition to a cheese and fruit plate. And the Berkshire Package ($150) is designed for two to share and includes caviar in addition to the Bedfordshire Tea selections. If you want to feel even fancier, Champagne can be added to any package!

Each package (besides the Berkshire) is per person — and sharing is not allowed. (What happens if you share? We don’t know. We didn’t try. Maybe you go to Disney jail?) You are also not able to come in and just order a la carte (a plate of sandwiches, for example). You must purchase the entire package. That said, you are able to add on to the package. So if you decide you want another scone, you can add one for a small fee.

There is also the Mrs. Potts Tea ($23.79) available for guests aged 3-9, which includes kid-friendly tea sandwiches, a tart, “tea” (it’s chocolate milk!), and dessert. And sorry but no, it is not served in a teapot that looks like Mrs. Potts! Maybe one day. 😉

We selected the classic Bedfordshire Tea. Upon ordering, you will let your server know which package you’d like as well as which dessert you want. For dessert, you can select a Seasonal English Trifle, Strawberries with Hand-whipped Creme, or a plate of Delicate-House made Pastries. We opted for the House-Made Pastries!

You also need to select which tea you’d like — and there are a lot more than three options! All of the teas are Twinings of London, and the lengthy menu is divided by tea varietals.

If you aren’t a tea savant, don’t worry! Your server can work with you to decide which one you’ll love! It’s good to note you can take home certain teas in pre-packaged boxes, which would be a great souvenir! Additionally, you can order other beverages such as Draft Beer and Wine, should you care for it.

Shortly after placing our order, it was tea time!! Each guest receives a full pot of tea — so if you’re attending with friends we recommend ordering different teas. That way you can share after the first cup!

We selected the Enchanting Forest Fruits Black Tea, per my server’s recommendation. She said it was one of the most popular teas thanks to the notes of strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry. It was a delightful brew! Nice and slightly sweet, it didn’t need any cream or sugar.

One of the cutest and most iconic things at the Tea is the Tea Cozy! Our Server brought them to keep our teapots warm throughout the meal.

We were also brought out our gorgeous selection of Tea Time goodies!

How cute is this tiered plate display?! Let’s take a closer look layer by layer — first up, sandwiches! Each adult receives a platter of 6 tea sandwiches…or half sandwiches, ’cause some of ’em didn’t have top bread pieces.

For starters, there’s a classic cucumber with boursin cheese. This one was light and refreshing, with the crisp, fresh cucumber!

Next, we sampled the Traditional Egg Salad. Honestly, this was some of the best egg salad we’ve ever had! Light and creamy, it was served open-faced on white bread.

Keeping things fancy, we moved on to the Poached Pear and Gorgonzola Cream Cheese Sandwich. Our server let us know the Pears are poached in a blend of red and white wines, which we are totally here for. This one surprised us! We loved the crunch from the fresh pear, and it was balanced nicely with the Gorgonzola.

Next, we tried the Sweet Curry Chicken Sandwich. This is the only sandwich we had served with two pieces of bread, and it’s made with coconut, golden raisins, mango chutney, and a Madras curry powder. This one was FABULOUS — we loved the curry flavor and the subtle sweetness from the coconut and raisins. We’ve were told this is a lot of people’s favorite sandwich, and we can see why!

The last sandwich on the plate was the Fire-Roasted Tomato and Oregano Goat Cheese. This was our personal favorite sandwich of the day — you could taste the fire on the tomatoes, and the goat cheese was smooth and flavorful.

Rounding out the plate, was the Sweet Caramelized Onion Tartlet. This lil’ guy was a bite of happiness! The flaky crust plus the sweet onions were a winning combo! TBH we could’ve eaten about 20 of these… .

The great news about the sandwiches is that you can swap out for whatever you fancy! If you prefer to have six of the cucumber sandwiches, go for it! You want a peanut butter and jelly off the kids’ tea menu instead of the Chicken Salad, do your thing! This is YOUR tea, and the Cast Members at the Grand will make sure you enjoy it! 🙂

Following the sandwiches, we investigated the Scone plate.

This course features a Golden Raisin Scone and Strawberry Jam Tart. They are accompanied by Lemon Curd, Devonshire (Clotted) Cream, and Strawberry Jam.

 

This round is really a choose your own adventure tale! You can mix and match the scone and tart with the toppings however you’d like. We opted to cut the scone in half and slather on the strawberry jam and clotted cream.

This was AH-mazing! The scone was perfectly baked, and the combination of the sweet cream and jam was well…our jam (Had to!). It was a very fresh, naturally sweet flavor overall.

We also topped the Strawberry Tart with the Lemon Curd to get a Strawberry Lemonade thing goin’ on. (We can’t take credit for this genius idea; our server totally suggested it.) But let us tell you — this was 100% the way to go. It was tart and sweet and flaky and we would gladly have eaten many more.

But tea isn’t over yet! Onto course 3…Dessert! (Wait, wasn’t the last course dessert?! Kinda, yea. But just embrace it.)

The Delicate House-made Dessert Plate consisted of a Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Milk Chocolate-Caramel Mousse Filled Swan, and two Macarons: Coffee and Pistachio. 

We sampled the Macarons first — which were, of course, perfect. All of the desserts are hand-made and selected by the Grand Floridian Pastry Team, and they’re excellent. Both flavors had smooth, creamy filling with a crunchy yet soft cookie. Our team voted for the Pistachio as the winner.

Next up, the Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberry.

There isn’t much to note about this one considering how simple it is — other than it was very tasty with a big, fresh strawberry. Sometimes simple is still the winner!

Lastly, we broke into the Swan!

On our visit, it was filled with a Milk Chocolate Caramel Filling, but our server told us that the Pastry Chefs change the flavor frequently.

The filling was SO GOOD. It was rich but not overwhelming; and the pastry isn’t overly sweet, which balances out the creamy mousse. This was the winner of the whole dessert tray for sure.

But our dessert wasn’t over yet!! Because our tea time was towards the end of the afternoon, our server asked us if we wanted some extra sweets. UM YES. The answer is always YES.

She brought us over the Seasonal Trifle, which is currently a Fall Seasonal Flavor made with cranberry compote, cinnamon cake, pumpkin mousse, and topped with whipped creme. 

This tasted like fall in a bowl! The sweet pumpkin was balanced with the tart cranberry, but the cinnamon cake was the real winner here. It was light and moist — but honestly, we STILL preferred the other dessert tray over this (color us SHOCKED, cause we love pumpkin!).

We were also able to try the Fresh Strawberries and Hand-beaten Whipped Creme.

We had pretty low expectations for this — it’s just strawberries and creme right?!

WRONG. We don’t know what Victorian magic the Grand Floridian Pastry Chefs were doing, but this was lovely. The strawberries were big, plump, and fresh, and you can absolutely tell the whipped creme was hand made. What did we say earlier — sometimes simple is still the best?!

At the end of our Tea Time, we were full-but-not-too-full (surprising, considering we just downed 3 dessert courses!). It was a marvelous afternoon, sipping on tea and nibbling on finger sandwiches and desserts.

Overall

The Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian is a fabulous way to spend an afternoon in Walt Disney World. This is a great offering that would be a relatively inexpensive way to celebrate a birthday or another special event or even just a nice way to “do something different” during your Disney vacay.

While it’s not a huge meal at first glance, we were pleasantly surprised at how much food you get! This could easily be a light lunch for most, and we think $35 is a fair price for all the nibbles, plus a full pot of tea, and a relaxing afternoon. While this may not be an every-day experience, it’s one we look forward to when we’re feeling fancy.

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Have you had tea at the Grand Floridian? Let us know in the comments!