Afternoon Tea At The Grand Floridian

The Garden View Lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando is a wonderful place to take tea in the grand British tradition.  On my recent trip I shared this afternoon tea experience with my daughter-in-law.

The grounds at this resort are gorgeous and meticulously maintained.  The minute you walk past the antique car and carriage at the entrance and into the magnificent lobby, you know that this will be special.

A musician was playing the grand piano when we arrived and later a band, dressed in formal attire, played from the second floor of the lobby.  Our reservation for tea was at 3:40. We did a little shopping when we arrived and I bought my granddaughter a lovely Tinker Bell doll.  I can’t wait until she is old enough to join us for tea.

The servers are attired in Victorian style costumes and the china is Old Country Roses by Royal Doulton.

I chose Darjeeling tea, although I was tempted to try the mango scented Tung Ting oolong.  Jessica drank hot chocolate.  We both had the Buckingham Palace tea.  I forgot to take a photo of the delicious raisin scone, served with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam.  The sandwiches included cucumber, egg, shrimp, chicken curry, onion tart, and my favorite pear with gorgonzola cheese.

There are quite a few choices on the menu including the Princess Kate Tea: 

A Spring tea served with a classic dish of potted shrimp followed by a medley of cheeses, an array of seasonal fruits, and cheddar cheese biscuits. A scone, jam tart, and a selection of delicate pastries is accompanied by a glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne and your choice of tea.

There is also what I called the “manly”  Prince Edward’s Tea:

A delicious array of duck and cherry terrine, chicken and pork roulade, country pate en croute, and English Blue Stilton, the "King" of English cheeses. Served with marinated fresh berries, and Cumberland sauce. We then offer our delicious fresh-baked scones served with rich Devonshire cream. Your choice of our tea with a glass of our Fonseca Bin 27 Character Port.

I’d taken a couple of bites of my English trifle before I remembered to take a photo.  It was good, but sadly it seemed to be missing the sherry that I could taste in the dessert on my previous visit.

It is just as well that we weren’t staying at the Grand Floridian, or I’d be at the Garden View Lounge every afternoon taking tea, which certainly wouldn’t help with the vacation diet pitfalls.

 Something odd that we noticed while walking by one of the pools, was the ducks swimming with the guests.  Maybe the staff just can’t keep them (the ducks) out of the pool.  I thought the ducks would prefer the Seven Seas Lagoon.

This is a beautiful Victorian style resort and is a quick trip by monorail from the Disney World theme parks.