Garden Grill breakfast returned for the first time since the pandemic closures in June 2023, and we were there on opening day to try it out. We've also been a couple of times since, so we have a good range of visits to report our experience. Unlike Garden Grill dinner, which has disappointed us with menu changes, Garden Grill breakfast remains and continues to be fantastic.
Garden Grill is a family-style buffet where you'll meet Mickey, Pluto, Chip 'n' Dale. We had a hilarious situation with our character experience where we needed the character captain to bring over a chipmunk, as well as many other amusing shenanigans.
✅ The food in general is all very good
🤤 The cinnamon bread loaf/monkey-bread though is DIVINE!
😂 Characters are great, especially when things mess up!
✅ Great service even when it is very busy
When you check in via the My Disney Experience app, you can choose whether you want a booth or a table. The tables are across the top, and the booths are along the bottom. The booths are much more comfy and cosy, but it's easier to interact with the characters at the tables. In the booths, you usually have to get up, but at the tables, they can stand behind you for photos, so keep that in mind when you choose.
First, our server introduces themselves and takes our drinks order. We ask for lots of POG juice and lots of coffee. The perfect way to start any Disney day!
The first course is brought over which consists of watermelon and a cinnamon bread loaf, sometimes called Monkey Bread.
That cinnamon bread loaf is nothing short of divine. It looks a bit weird, and I wasn't expecting much, but it was absolutely delicious. I am not one to fall into the filling up on bread tactic, but I could have eaten this whole thing.
When you're finished with fruit and bread your main breakfast skillet is brought out.
The eggs were very good, but we do often enjoy most of the scrambled eggs served at Walt Disney World. The bacon and waffles were standard. The cheesy potato hash was a little bizarre at first, but the more I ate it, the more I enjoyed it. The steak was great. The steak is advertised as flank steak, so you know you're in for a bit of a chewy battle, but honestly, it isn't too bad and tastes very nice. They put this Ranchero Sauce on the steak. I'm not really sure what it is, but it works and tastes good.
As it's family style you can order as much as you like! We ordered some more eggs and steak. The four characters you get to meet at breakfast are the same as at dinner. Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale.
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The characters are always great, but sometimes there are some mishaps which make for some memorable experiences. On our first visit, all the characters were fun, except Chip. The other half still holds a grudge against Chip since this hilarious event. We met Mickey, Pluto, and Dale, and then we finished our meal. We only had Chip left to see, and we saw him interacting with the table next to us. That worked out great timing as we were all finished with our food. Chip was done with that table and then he completely blanks us and walks past our table and starts interacting with the table after us. We looked at each other and just laughed. A minute or so goes by, and our server comes over with our check and we mentioned we just have Chip to see, but he just skipped past us! She said she will go and inform the "Character Captain" to arrange for Chip to come back. A few minutes go by, and in the distance, I see what looks like a manager and a chipmunk walking towards us. I say to the other half, "He's coming!" The character captain comes to our table with a chipmunk standing next to him and says, "I hear you guys are looking to meet Chip." I nodded nervously as I looked over to the chipmunk standing next to him and noticed a red nose.
The character, Captain, turns to his right and presents the chipmunk to us. He didn't seem to realise, so after a couple of silent seconds, I said, "I know I used to get these two mixed up, but.. that's Dale, right?" Now, he obviously noticed at that moment he had made a mistake, but I will give huge credit to him because he played it off very well. "Dale, why are you following me around?" he said. "I need to go find Chip for these guests!" We had a little laugh with Dale, and we told him not to worry; he did great! Chip then, a few minutes later, came over alone and took some photos.
In terms of food, this is a top 3 breakfast destination, with Boma and Ohana being the other two. It was overall a very enjoyable meal and not bad value at around $49, especially as you get characters as well. The service was great, the characters were awesome, and overall a great experience. If you're looking for a nice breakfast with some character fun, this is it.
