The Garden View Lounge afternoon tea room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa reopened in March 2026. In partnership with Twinings, Disney’s culinary team created a dining experience inspired by the Alice in Wonderland tea party scene. In this episode, we review the Garden View Lounge afternoon tea service live from this Walt Disney World restaurant.
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Imagination Skyway – Episode 254 – Grand Floridian Tea Room
What’s it like to dine at the Garden View Lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa? Enjoy this live dining review from the reopened tea Room. Welcome aboard Imagination Skyway. Your guided tour through the worlds of Disney and Imagineering. I’m your host, Matthew Krul, and it’s my job to explore the stories and places we love and the people who bring them to life. In today’s episode, we head to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa to try the newly reopened Garden View Lounge, thanks to a special invitation from Disney Parks inspired by Alice in Wonderland and in partnership with Twinings, this timeless Walt Disney World restaurant was recently reimagined with a whimsical twist dining in a space inspired by sunlit conservatories, balancing modern comfort and classic Victorian charm, the Garden View Lounge welcomes guests to choose between a traditional afternoon tea service, a plant based service or a special children’s tea for younger visitors. Throughout this episode, you’ll hear our honest thoughts as we experience the new Garden View Lounge for the first time. It’ll be like, you’re right there with us at the table. As you fasten your seat belt, I encourage you to take out your mobile devices and search for Imagination Skyway on your favorite social media app. And if you’re looking for ad free episodes and bonus content, become an Imagination Skyway Pass holder at patreon dot com slash Imagination Skyway. And if this episode leaves you yearning for a trip to Disney or any other destination, reach out to our partners and sponsors at travel voted the top travel agency in Orlando in twenty twenty five. To get started, visit travel dot com slash Skyway. As we begin our journey, please remain seated. Keep your hands and arms inside the podcast at all times and enjoy your journey aboard Imagination Skyway. Okay, so we’re here at the brand new or recently reopened Garden View Lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. I am really loving this new space. Well, in an old space, but a refreshed space. Um. But here is part of a Disney Parks and Disney Eats Media events. The Tea Room reopens March nineteenth. We’re in April, so it has been around for about a month now. And we’re going to get the sample. This new experience. I say we because Kelly from KMV travel is back with me. Yes. Thank you for inviting me. This is like right up my alley, you know that. So I’m super excited. Who was the first person I thought of? Because we talk about our mutual love of tea. Yes. And I’m just going through the menu now and looking at everything that we’re going to get to select from and the various, uh, pastries we’re going to get to sample. And, you know, there’s, there’s certain enhancements on here too. I don’t think we’re necessarily going to do like a seasonal cheese selection or royal us a caviar. There are also cocktails to sample. I really want the traditional tea experience here, so I am going to go through the the traditional selections here. Afternoon to you both today. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is very nice to meet you both. Nice to meet you as well. I’m going to be taking care of you today. I’m going to start your morning or actually afternoon with some rose scented rosewater scented towels. Okay. And definitely refresh your afternoon if you stop and smell the roses as well. Thank you. Absolutely. Uh, with your experience today, we’re going to be offering a variety of beautiful teas, twining teas. I’m going to bring those out in just a second. I’ll present them to you. You can smell whichever one would help you pick your curiosity team. So after that, we’ll do some skulls, orange and cranberries colors, where we have a wonderful tear with savory and sweet. Um, absolutely delicious with a lot of different, uh, beautiful, uh, chef selected ideas. I’d like to add your experience if you’d like to add anything extra. We have a great cheese platter or an osetra caviar flatter comes with different sweetness and chive biscuits. We have, uh, two traditional beverages that they are both infused with a tea. And then we have four sparklings and then two non-alcoholic beverages on the bottom of your menu. And they are your newest additions of training refreshers. It’s like basically drinking cold iced tea. I love it. Why one has a shimmer to those hot Disney, Disney, Disney always have to add magic. So check it out and I’ll be right back with Jessica Lashing. Thank you. Thank you. Well that sounds great. And I was about to read the first page of the menu introduces us to the theme. Here it says hurry down the rabbit hole for a very important date. Wonderland’s Tea party has caused to celebrate. It’s everyone’s unbirthday, which is quite a big to do and the guest of honor just happens to be you. This is like it’s already the cutest thing. It is. Gotta grab a picture of that. Of course. And you know those rose scented towels, their aroma, the aroma. And notice that they they actually expanded when she put the water on. Very like wonderland’s tea. Oh, yeah. It smells like rose. Yeah. Yeah. Um, obviously smells like rose, but it’s those like a rose hand lotion. It has that therapeutic. Yes. Aroma. Mhm. Which is great. I love the view here, too. You’re overlooking the resort. You get the big pine T building right across the way where I’m sitting. I could see Polynesian and Seven Seas Lagoon. You’re getting more of a pool view. Oh, all right, my dear. If there’s anything that sparks your interest, let me know and I can stop there and let you smell it. We have your four black teas, your mango and ginger. One of my favorites. Uh, green tea. And we have three herbals, and the herbals are decaf. Um, I like to start you with our signature tea is our orangery of Lady Green. Oh my goodness. Yes, ma’am. It’s a lighter frame with citrus notes. Oh, that smells so good. I’m gonna let you smell something else. That is so good. It’s mango and ginger. Oh my gosh, sweet mango. Yeah, it’s a nice little touch. Ooh. Very nice. That’s ginger. Comes through right at the end. It’s so good. Yeah. How about another chocolate. Chocolate. Oh it says unsweetened chocolate. Some roasted hazelnut. The nutty chocolate flavored Assam. Mhm. Smells like. Yeah. It’s. I’m like getting Nutella. I’m loving that. Do you like spicy chai? I do, I like spicy chai as well. I would love to smell that. Oh my gosh. Oh that’s really good. How about um. The London Strand breakfast. It seems very traditional. Traditional tea. Assam black tea. MM. Yes. MM. Smells like London. Ready to go back. I have a red bush. Caramel velvet. I do love red seas. Oh, wow. So red bush, caramel velvet. Yeah. It’s true. Oh, that is very sweet. Yeah. Yeah. I could smell the caramel. That’s something strong, like spicy chai. Maybe a bold texture. Juicy tart, Blackcurrant and lavender. Oh my gosh the blackcurrant and lavender. Okay. Wow that’s amazing as hibiscus flowers inside. That is very strong. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a bold tea. It’s very bold more so than anything else that sparks your interest. We have a lemon, lemongrass and peppermint. Yeah, we might as well peppermint. Might as well complete the set. That smells so good. MM. Very. It’s like the lightest. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Refreshing. Yeah it is. I think we missed one. We missed one. Maybe not. No I think we got all of them. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for the tour. Yeah. Well you have to kiss your curiosity. Tea. So what do you think would like, um. Your tea. I would love to go with the orangery of Lady Grey. How about you, then? I think I’m gonna do the hazelnut one that you had there. Which one? The chocolate flavored. Yeah. The nutty chocolate? Yes. Nutty chocolate flavor is. Sam. Yes. Any cream Malmo. I’ll take notice. I’ll get it. None for me. Yes, sir. Check out our menu. I’m going to go ahead and seek your tea and I’ll be back shortly. Wonderful. Thank you. So with our afternoon tea. By the way, I love how we should talk about this because people listening can’t see it when you. I’m sure as you were listening to us smelling the teas, you’re probably picturing being handed a, uh, like loose leaf tea bag or something. But these were like sturdy glass, uh, almost like an upside down, uh, glass cup. Right? Yeah. Like a hurricane Bob. Like a yes. Yeah. Right. And then it looked like they had the tea leaves in there. And then she like literally lifted it up and almost like smelling a glass of wine. Let’s like, put it over our noses and the sense without having anything physically in that class. The scent came through and maybe this is traditional. I I’ve never done an afternoon tea before, so maybe this is in the most high class afternoon teas in London. How they do it, I don’t know, but it really elevated the experience. It’s the only. The way I’ve always seen it done is you get canisters basically, and you’ll open up the canister and then you smell. Yeah. I’ve never seen it done this way. And it was it did elevate it. It did Twinings branded black case. It felt like we were being presented some fine jewelry like it was it was velvet inside. Yeah. Anyway, I, so let’s go through the list of what we’re going to get to experience for the food selections, which includes an orange cranberry scone, curried chicken salad, playing card tarts, Footman’s feasts, Wonderland salmon crisp Tweedledee Egg salad sandwich. Caterpillar cucumber roll. Matcha. Mad Hatter. Tea party tarts. Flamingo croquet. Shoot and painting. The rose. And all of this, as you could tell, is Alice in Wonderland themed? Um. And she is talking about the curiosity of whatever is piquing our curiosity for tea selections. I would love to try all of these, honestly. Um, the orangery of Lady Grey. I knew I had to go with because it’s the signature one here. I do love a good chai. So the spicy. I should probably describe some of these. So the orangery of Lady Grey. It’s light and fragrant black tea with bright citrus notes of orange and bergamot. A refreshing twist on classic Earl grey inspired by sunlit English orangeries. I also loved. Oh, maybe go to yours, Kelly. You had the. You’re getting that nutty, chocolate flavored Assam. Yeah. So that’s rich. Assam black tea meets the flavors of smooth chocolate and roasted hazelnuts, a blend inspired by the timeless pairing of tea and chocolate. I really loved the spicy chai. It’s a blend of African black tea and rooibos, flavored with fragrant spices for a rich and delicious chai. There’s actually at home I have a chai rooibos tea that I really like, so that is probably my next one that I would want to sample. And then I also really like the lemongrass and peppermint because that was light and refreshing. Refreshing lemongrass blended with sweet peppermint, creating an uplifting, smooth herbal citrus infusion. So Spicy chai would be my next one. After the nutty chocolate flavored Assam, was there one that you really liked? You know, it’s not one that I normally would be pulled to because I am definitely a English breakfast, Irish breakfast Earl grey kind of person. So I like black teas, but the red bush, caramel velvet, it’s a vibrant copper or copper red, excuse me, herbal infusion made from South African red bush leaves flavored with caramel and safflowers for a smooth, comforting cup. So it’s naturally caffeine free and it just the velvet that is the best word to describe it, and it’s hard to even say it without kind of having them. You guys get the chance to smell it yourself, but it’s a very strong smell for a caffeine free herbal tea. So I was interested in that one. Yeah. All of these. This is not boxed tea, right. Like which I’ll be honest. That’s traditionally what I drink at home. Like these are. I’m very excited to sample these because this is going to be a true tea experience. So all the tea drinkers at home, I did a coffee episode way back and I said, I need to do a tea episode, but there’s not a ton to choose from around Walt Disney World. This is the place where tea drinkers to go. Yes. Um, I might sample the curiosity, which is a non-alcoholic specialty tea. It’s an extra, um, about seven dollars. It’s a Twinings Refreshers Strawberry Raspberry herbal tea with a touch of shimmering magic. The other one that’s non alcoholic you can choose which is about six dollars is this way, that way. Just Twinings refreshers peach mango herbal tea and mint. And then for the cocktail drinkers there are two on here both about nineteen twenty dollars. Um mint tulip which is old Forester eighteen seventy original batch Kentucky Straight Whiskey, Twinings refreshers, peach mango Herbal tea and mint, and the Martini, which is Drumshanbo gunpowder Irish gin. Twinings Earl grey tea, lemon and honey. And, um, also the other thing mentioned was the champagnes and sparkling wines. So there are four two you can get by the glass for that you could get by the bottle. The most exclusive here. Uh, they’re the most high end is a champagne from France whose name I cannot pronounce. Um. Piper. Piper. Heidsieck. Yeah. Mhm. Uh, and let’s see if you get by the glass. Ah, the, um, Taittinger Le Francais Brut and Taittinger. Okay. You speak French? You do this part. You do this part? Yes. Le francais brut. So that’s a champagne. Uh, and then this one is from Spain. So this is not going to be my area of expertise, but a raventos blanc. Uh, Denise. Rosé. So a rosé, of course. And then, uh, Blanc de Blanc, uh, from England. So that’s going to be, uh, all of it is made out of Chardonnay grapes. So that’s a bright valley blanc. Would you like to add anything to your experience? Nothing for us. For now. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yes, yes. I will say the offerings that they have for the specialty drinks, the cocktails, um, they’re all still so well themed. The martini is right up my alley. Having gin and tea. Um, and then the mint tulip I love. It’s a mint julep, of course, but it’s a tulip. So they the names are just really cute. And this way. That way. It’s very cute. I like that. Um, your nutty chocolate, ma’am. Okay. Thank you. Keep in mind that the pot is piping hot, so make sure you place your hand on the lid as you’re pouring out. Good to know we have Lady Gray, sir. Okay. Really? I’m gonna grab some scones right away. There’s some cream as well. Enjoy. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Yeah, but she might as well leave them anyway. What is it? She left the menu here. We should also talk about the way everything is presented. This is all fine. China. Yes. You know, the cream is in a floral, uh, ceramic, like fine China. Yeah, it’s it’s a whole set. Yeah. The the plates, we have a larger plate and a smaller plate, and they have flowers incorporated throughout them. The, the teapots, the, the, um, the mugs, like they all are floral. And you really get that floral theme throughout this room. I had the chance to talk to some of the Imagineers who worked on the experience here, and they were inspired by Victorian conservatories in designing this space. And you get that sense. They also incorporated a lot of the the floral work from the Grand Floridian lobby, which now incorporates Florida State trees and Florida State flowers and birds that are native to Florida. And you see that interwoven. It’s very green in here. The carpet is meant to give an earthly touch to the space. I see hidden mickeys throughout the carpet. The furniture also has very similar designs, and all the colors in here are green and off white and brown. To really give you a sense of being in a Victorian conservatory, which is great. So I wanted to add that to. Before we dive in. So unless this is truly piping hot, I’m going to go for my orangery of Lady Grey. Let’s let’s see. She’s pretty. It is so refreshing. It’s light. It. It’s definitely black tea. So it’s got that that bolder taste to it, but it’s a lighter black tea and that orange citrus. It fits so perfectly with the new theme of Grand Floridian. And I love it, so I can’t wait. What do we got here? That’s okay. Thank you. Enjoy some orange and cranberry skulls. Beautiful. And they’re offered with our Devonshire cream. Clotted cream with your. Yeah, with European butter. And of course, marmalade. Who doesn’t like marmalade? I love it. There is no rum. There is no right way you can have it any way that you like. So please enjoy. I’m gonna have it. It’s so hard to decide. I mean, they all look so tall. Yes. Uh, before we dive into the scones, do you want to sample your tea as well? Okay, so I’m gonna keep drinking mine. Can you see here. Nutty chocolate flavored asan. Oh my gosh. It’s like a Toblerone. It’s like, oh, it’s so, so good. I didn’t even put any milk in it, which I normally I have my milk in my tea. Um, so let’s see if it makes it any different. It’s just the way that blends in the cup. And you pour that in. It’s beautiful. This is a true high tea experience. It just it’s you can have it without. You can have it with which is it means it’s a good cup of tea. It sure is. Yes. So as we just heard, we now have our cranberry orange scones. There are two here. So we each get to sample one. And we have three different choices here. And I think I’m gonna go with all three. So I know she said one was the European butter. Another one was the marmalade. She didn’t say which flavor. I’m guessing orange. Yeah. That would make the most sense. Yeah. And the third one was traditional butter. Uh, clotted cream. Clotted cream. Yes. So, uh, my family is from Scotland. Um, and we do believe there’s a right way to do this. Okay. Our waitress said there’s no wrong way. Um, but, yeah, you talk to any, uh, tea drinker, they’re going to say there’s a right way. Do you have the clotted cream or the jam or marmalade on there first? So we’ll see what you do. Matt. So I’m I’m being put on the spot now. Um. All right. So I’m gonna say maybe the cream goes first. That’s what I do. The clotted cream. And then I would do the preserves or end with like the dessert, the sweeter side. That’s kind of how I’m envisioning that. But everyone has their way of doing it. Nice going. Totally fell apart in the first. Yes. Sang the scone itself is someone to try it by itself. It’s very light. It almost melts in your mouth, you know. It has the a slightly. Denser consistency than a, um, like a shortbread. It’s. It’s very refreshing and light. That’s not like a heavy scone. Mhm. Um. At all. So it’s orange and cranberry definitely comes through, but it doesn’t neither overpower each other. Yeah. That’s true. Mhm. But the European butter. There’s so much flavor to that. Mhm. What are they doing in Europe that we are not doing properly here? That’s what I want to know. They definitely got something these afternoon teas. They’re doing it right. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Admittedly, I’ve never had clotted cream. Mhm. But I’m obviously gonna try it. Right now. Yes. Oh, wow. It’s almost buttery. More creamy. Kind of lighter consistency. You know, I usually don’t do dining episodes because podcasting and it’s, it’s hard to eat and talk at the same time. But this is a true experience. This is not like dining at any old Disney restaurant. So, uh, I felt it was worth sharing our live reactions here. So here’s the marmalade, which smells like it’s orange. It’s about. Mhm. It adds a tang. Mhm. Yeah. Yes. You’re right though, it is definitely this is more of an experience than just a dining reservation. Um, you do pay for this in advance too. So that’s something to think about when you are making your reservations. It’s similar to like a Cinderella’s royal table where you will have that advance payment. Um, and this does include your gratuities as well. So that’s a nice thing that you can just kind of enjoy. And you don’t have to think about the check coming at the end if you don’t get any of those extras. That’s right. Now I have to ask because. You’ve been to you have that Scottish heritage. Mhm. You’ve been to Scotland, England and Ireland. Yes. How does this compare to a traditional high tea. So I think it’s very similar in terms of what’s being served. Um and every high tea will have differences. You know, there’s, you’ll go to certain ones for certain things. Um, but the scones, the clotted cream preserve that’s very traditional. Um, I think where this really you get that element of Disney is I’m excited for our kind of tower that we’re going to get because all of the different theming that they have. So the Tweedle Dee egg salad sandwich, very traditional that you would get at an afternoon tea, but we’re going to get that little hint of Disney magic that’s going to be there too. Yes. All the designs. It’s true. It’s it’s high key in a Disney twist with a Disney twist. Um, and the culinary team was inspired specifically by, of course, the Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland and adding a little element of whimsy and trying to. It. It really fits with the Grand Floridian theme, which I had even asked the question, you know, there’s a lot of Mary Poppins theming in here, and there is technically a Tea Party on the ceiling that happens in Mary Poppins. But when you think about the fact that Alice in Wonderland also takes place in England, in London, and it incorporates a much more vibrant and colorful Tea Party experience with a, um, you know, a, something that kids can recognize and relate to, something that they can draw in the characters like the caterpillar, like the Mad Hatter and his, his hat, you know, and I’ve seen the photos in Disney Parks blog, and I’m looking around the room at what everything looks like. And it has a lot of color. It’s got a lot of whimsy to it that fits with the Alice in Wonderland theme. I think it’s another thing that I always say with Disney is they take something that might be a little bit intimidating for people, and they make it very approachable. So maybe if you were traveling to London, you would be a little nervous about the high, you know, doing a high tea because what am I supposed to do is there’s certain rules, different things like that. Whereas you come here and you get the same, you know, very similar experience, but, you know, it’s very approachable. Yeah. And you’re going to have these things that are common to you, you know, and that you love. So, and you’re going to have great pictures at the end because these, um, like you said, we’re looking around and seeing everything. The culinary team did an incredible job. They’re beautiful. So is there a proper way to go about high tea? Two questions. One, is there an appropriate way to hold your teacup? Well, from what I’ve learned, we don’t need to do pinkies up. I feel like that’s over. Yes. Overhyped? Yes. Well, and we should never hold it with a set. The other hand. It’s just one hand. Um, and that’s really what I have learned. So I don’t know if there’s any I would, I would love to hear listeners know anything else. Yeah. We need to do a research trip, go to London. We’ll do high tea in London. We’ll record our thoughts, compare it to the the tea lounge here at Disneyland. Yeah. And then we can take notes. We’ll maybe speak to the culinary team at High Tea in London. And I know there’s so much to choose from. I’ve actually seen for kids, they have Alice in Wonderland themed High tea in London. Yes. So they’re not far off here. This is a similar experience to what you would maybe get with a more family friendly kids high tea in London, but it’s actually created by Disney’s culinary team, which is great. Do you do? Sorry. Excellent choices. And let’s start with your chicken curry right on the bottom. Uh, tart. It is, garnished with cherry jelly right on top of that. Uh, your salmon crisp. One of my favorites. It is on a miso brown butter crisp with salmon roe on top. Um, I hope you like also egg salad sandwich. It is also with bacon, arugula butter. The color of the bread comes from beets. And it’s a tweedle dee sandwich and caterpillar cucumber rolls. Uh, and, and that is on pumpernickel bread. And guess what? That green cheese gets its color from the butterfly pea tea. And you mix it. Oh, geez. It gives it a nice green color. Wow. Purplish blue, something like that. I love that mad Hatter hats. Um, they are matcha cake with apricot. I have to let you know. I wouldn’t touch them with my hands. It’s pure, pure made. Did some green hands. So just so you know, they’re absolutely delicious. And your flamingos are known for their other passionate animals. And of course, we’re going to follow my passion fruit right on the inside. And then your party tea cake. Um, there’s custard, coffee, custard on the inside surrounded by chocolates, surrounded by more chocolate. And that is your, um, coffee cup with Chantilly cream and white chocolate curls. And where’s that fruit color coming from is Alice Pinafore. Oh, I love that. Yes, ma’am. And then what’s wrong with these roses? They’re not red. Thank you. The Queen will not be happy. We have our berry cake roses with some rose buttercream, matcha leaf and vanilla sablé cookie on the bottom. And I have to paint them. Oh, to paint the roses. That’s it is our little secret. We won’t tell the queen. Please. Yeah. Goodbye. Sorry. That’s so awesome. Awesome. Enjoy. Thank you so much. Absolutely. My pleasure. So this looks amazing. I love the way she just describes the tears. I love that she painted the roses red on the top. And all right let’s let’s go through these. So we’re starting at the bottom with the curried chicken salad playing card tart and the Footman’s feast Wonderland salmon crisp. So this seems to be the curried chicken salad. And there’s the did she say what the hearts are made out of? I think no, I don’t know. Let’s see. She probably did, but I forgot. Yeah. Mhm. Excellent. Curry. Now it’s not here. Curry a lot people are thinking spicy curry. This is very mild like this barbecue barbecue sauce is spicier than this. Definitely. And there’s also a sweetness. There’s a sweetness because of the pastry. Mhm. Amazing. Mhm. Okay. I’m gonna clean my palette with a little tea. And let’s move on. We have the, uh, footman’s feast wonderland’s salmon crisp. And there’s some. There’s a generous amount of salmon on top of this. Oh, yes. Oh my goodness. MM. That is so good. And the salmon is like. Almost like tuna. Like it’s like a it’s like a paté. Paté. Yeah. It’s like a paté. It’s definitely a, um, I think some of these things, you know, people might see and feel, well, I’m not a big salmon person, but it’s not the same in terms of like what you would expect. It’s, they, they kind of taken something and turned it a little bit. Yes. Yes. Okay. I’m going to move on to the caterpillar cucumber roll, which is on pumpernickel. I do love pumpernickel. There are flowers on these. I’m assuming these are edible flowers or else they wouldn’t put them on here. MM. Refreshing with the cucumber. Creamy with the cream cheese. Mhm. I like this one. This is very good. It’s the traditional cucumber sandwich. But again they’ve kind of upped it a little bit, made it given the Alice in Wonderland character to it. Yes. And that it’s very light. Very, very light. Okay. The Tweedledee egg salad sandwich. I love that it has the yellow flags in them. Oh, it is so cute. And she said that the so the buns are actually a red color. Obviously to be like tweedle dee. Um, and that’s from beets is the color I love beets. Smells delicious. I think this might be my favorite one. MM. You can’t go wrong. Mhm. Very good. So far, this is my favorite one. It’s simple. Mhm. But it’s it’s delicious. I’m a big fan of the salmon crisp because I’ve never had it like that. But I think all of it is. The flavors all work very well together, and when you drink your tea with it, you get even. You know, it’s kind of like drinking a glass of wine. It’s going to support whatever you’re drinking or whatever you’re eating. And it’s the same thing with the tea. Absolutely. Okay. Now at the top again, we have the matcha Mad Hatter, the Tea Party tart, the flamingo, croquet and painting the rose. I actually kind of want to start with painting the rose. Because this especially is she painted the rose, right? Look, it’s falling apart. This is when it’s helpful not to be a video podcast, because you do not want to see us eating. At least me. Yes. And she had to eat our rules before we got it, so. Wow. I can’t even describe this. It’s it’s got almost a, um, like a light cake icing flavor with rose. Mhm. Yes. Right. That’s Rose I’m tasting. Or is that something else? I think that the sauce that she put on top of it is the rose that we’re getting. Yeah. Definitely a a stronger rose taste. Yeah. It’s very it’s yeah, yeah. If you don’t, if you like rose tea. Mhm. It has very much that, that consistency of that flavor. Okay. Uh, next we go with the flamingo croquet. Which this is more like a, a sponge cake consistency. Yeah. This one’s a shoe bun. So definitely like a, a sponge kind of. And this has passionfruit in it. There it is all over my face now. Um hmm. That’s very good. It is. It’s buttery too. It’s less sweet than the, uh, painting. The rose painting. The rose is definitely very sweet. Uh, but still very good. Yes. And I love that it has the the flamingo’s face on it as a little like white chocolate addition. Very good. Okay. Next up is the I think this is the Tea Party tart, the one that’s decorated with Alice’s dress. Yes. And you know, it’s this has got almost three layers to it. There’s a almost like a mini chocolate taught at the bottom, followed by a fondant blue layer that’s representing Alice’s dress. And on top there’s a mini chocolate cup. Like it’s a little miniature cup made of chocolate with um, icing in the middle. Right. I feel like I need to eat this in layers. I know, I think I’m gonna take the Chantilly cream and cheers. Cheers. Also. Very light. It’s like a chocolate mousse. Mhm. I like that the most. Yes. I’m a chocolate lover, so. Mhm. All right, now on to the bottom. This is definitely fondant. Like it’s I don’t know what else to make. The shape definitely fondant. Yes. And then if I peel it off. Oh okay. So when you peel it off actually inside it’s like it’s a chocolate. Um an open chocolate torte with filled with chocolate mousse it looks like. Yeah. Or pudding. I can’t tell what it’s gonna be, but clearly I was taking notes as she was describing everything. I eat. That’s like rich chocolate. Mhm, mhm. If you enjoy chocolate, this is gonna be the one you’ll love. Absolutely. Well, it’s got an interesting flavor to it, too. There’s something else in here right at the end. Yeah. Mhm. I don’t know what it is. It is interesting the variety of flavors that you get. Yes. You get something that’s very chocolate heavy, and then you go the passion fruit, then all the way to something that’s a lot sweeter. And has that rose taste. Yeah. Your taste buds are going to go through a an experience as wild and whimsical as Alice’s Tea Party. I feel like I’m dashing from one side of the tea table to the next and just like in that scene. But those are my taste buds being being taken for a ride in all different directions. We are definitely clean cut, move down. That’s happening for sure. Yes. All right. So the, um, the Mad Hatter, sorry, the matcha Mad Hatter is definitely, uh. She said not to eat it with your hands. So I’m literally going to take this with my fork and knife now, she said there’s apricots in it, so I’m curious if you bite it first, if they’re raw or not. Because fun fact about me, I cannot actually have apricots raw because I’m okay. Let’s see slightly. I’m gonna I think I’m gonna cut into this. Yeah, this is quite a big. So it looks like it’s an apricot jam. Oh, that’s much different. Okay, I can have that just so there’s apricots inside. So I’m like, well, are these fresh apricots or somewhere like an apricot jam? Hello. Everything is great. Excellent. Yes. So. This is the tree. Yeah. Steve is trying to use a very long relationship. Yeah. So he came in for this very special. Oh my goodness. Wonderful. There will be after being served again, the chef Ali and I know you’re enjoying the fruits of their labors and. And can I ask what teas you’re drinking? Yes. I went with the lingerie of Lady Grey. I wanted the signature tea created for this one here and in the two thousand in the United States. Wow. Yeah. And it’s incredible. It’s refreshing. It’s light. It’s it’s got such a great aroma to it. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And yourself. I went for the nutty chocolate flavored a song. Nice. Yes. Yeah. It is. It’s a really odd concept. Chocolate and tea. Yeah. It works, doesn’t it? Two best things. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. So fantastic. It’s wonderful. If you have any questions, I’m going to be sitting over there. Feel free to ask. But the most important thing for but we want you to do is to enjoy. And for you. Well, thank you so much. So much. Wonderful to meet you, to say hello. Nice to meet you as well. Of course. Thank you. Thank you very much. In a second, we had Chinese royalty. I was, you know, a little taken aback there. That was wonderful. Celebrity presence. Yes. All right. I don’t know how to top that off now with this Mad Hatter, but. Oh my. That is unique. That is the best word to describe it. Yes. I’ve never tasted this flavor combination in my life. It’s. Yeah, I’m trying to put it into words. It’s like I’m getting both of the flavors. Like they’re not they’re not working against each other. It’s like one second. You’re. Oh, that’s apricot. And the next that’s the matcha kind of more, you know, earthy taste. Earthy. I was saying it. I was thinking in my head. Floral. Yeah. Like, it tastes like I’m tasting a garden. Mhm. And that’s one of my favorite drinks over at G.o.a.t. Two is the walk through the garden. But this is like I’m tasting in a in a pastry. A garden of flowers. Yes. Um, and it looks that way too. Maybe it’s because of the green design, but all right. We’ve, we’ve sampled everything here. Um that’s included in the afternoon tea. If you have a favorite from the, the, the tower here, I think I like the, the tea party tart is very good. Um, but it’s something that I would probably normally go to. I really like the flamingo croquet shoe. I like that the passion fruit is you get the, you know, fruitiness of it, but it’s not very sweet. So that was a surprise for me. So I think I’m gonna say that one. For me, it’s the sweet egg salad sandwich. Mhm. And the curry chicken salad playing cards heart. There really wasn’t anything that. I won’t go back for another bite too, though. Yeah. Everything was very good. Yes. I will say, if you are. Who’s that? Fine. Like if you don’t, if you’re not adventurous, um, you know, there is a little bit of sense of adventure with this food if you’re not familiar with a lot of the tastes, um, the way that it presented, but it is Disney, it’s very approachable and everything here, you know, like I said, like that the, the macho Mad Hatter, I’ve never tasted anything like that in my life. I, it was hard to describe what it’s like, but then you had the, um, the painting, the rose and that one, especially the top, like traditional chocolate mousse flavor. Nothing, nothing scary about it. Even though like you said, flamingo croquet shoe, um, very familiar taste. And then, uh, even the, I feel like the caterpillar cucumber roll again, sort of familiar taste combination of pumpernickel, um, cucumber, the cream cheese, a little bit of a different taste of the cream cheese, but very light. Um, and it’s nice that everything is just included so you can sample everything and feel adventurous or decide, you know, should take one bite of something and then move on to some of like my comfort flavors here. So there’s a little bit of everything for everyone. Um, and it’s certainly worth coming here to experience this, especially if you’re going to be over at Magic Kingdom or anywhere staying on Seven Seas Lagoon, or if you just want to head over here for a reservation, no matter where you’re staying and try it out. And we’ve been now sitting here for about an hour and it has been a true experience being here. Um, you know, Kelly, for you, who do you think? Like if you were speaking to clients, like which of your clients would you steer in this direction? I think this is a great option for someone who’s looking for something special to do. This is kind of outside of the norm. Um, it is something that you can do with little ones. There’s some little ones around here. Yeah. They do have a kids kind of menu that’s set for them as well. Um, there are iced teas too that you can get. So um, I think that’s a great thing to do. This can be kind of like a, you know, special event. Um, but I also think if there’s just something that you are kind of celebrating, this is a good thing to do too. Um, but if you have a rest day, this would be such a fun way to spend that rest day is come do the afternoon tea and then maybe you just spend the rest of the day going around the monorail. Um, I’m always a fan of a rest day, and this is now going to be added to my list of things to do for sure. Yeah. Especially when we stay here at Grand Floridian. One of the main perks of our vacation club membership. Having this as our home resort, one of our home resorts, just being able to, like I said, on a resort day, staying, whether it’s a big pine key, that building is right across the way, uh, or in the Disney Vacation Club studio. Or if we decide to do a cash stay and do one of the other room choices that are here, it’s nice to just come across the courtyard and enjoy this. I know this summer also, Grand Floridian Cafe was going to be going through its refurbishment. So if you’re looking for something to enjoy during the day at Grand Floridian, then maybe head down the hallway from Grand Floridian Cafe and try the garden goulash, because it certainly seems worth, um, worth coming to, I would say I’ll be I’ll get my honest steak for, um, Maggie and Emily being, you know, the ages. They are four and two. I can’t see myself taking them at that age because they’re especially Maggie very much in that picky eater phase. Chicken nuggets and French fries. And this you pay for your kids, right? Like if they’re two or under, you don’t bite anyone at Maggie’s age, you know, three and up, you’re going to pay that child’s price. And we run into that issue when we eat at buffets. Like she’ll maybe just pick like a little bit of a little bit of this, a little bit of that things that we could have gotten out of quick service. So unless there’s an experiential component to it of meeting characters, like that’s a big reason that we would go and spend the money. I can’t see her really eating any of this, just to be bluntly honest, um, at her age, but certainly it’s something I’m looking forward to as the girls get older. Maybe when they had five, six, seven and they’re starting to be a little more adventurous and think about things, they want to try and get a London afternoon tea experience with a Disney twist at Walt Disney World. That, to me, is that perfect age range to really start. Um, but hey, if you have an adventurous three or four year old who wants to try different foods, they’re not going to get those chicken nuggets and French fries here, but they’re gonna get a really great culinary experience out of it. I think it’s, you know, exactly like you said, it’s always, what is the family looking for? And, you know, knowing your family, um, this I had been able to go to the original iteration of this, um, and it was very different. So if you have done that before. And you’re like, well, I’ve already done that. Check it off. This is something completely different. I would still highly recommend coming back and doing this one. Absolutely. Well, Kelly, let’s finish up our plates here. Thank you so much for joining me at the Tea Lounge and talking about the experience with me and anyone who’s listening. If you have questions, great person to reach out to. Of course, you can reach out to me, but reach out to Kelly to help you to get that perfect room at Grand Floridian and the perfect reservation here at the Tea Lounge to cap it all off. How is everything? It’s delicious. Excellent. So unique. Yeah, we were saying. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted. That’s my favorite. Actually, it’s the. My favorite. Yeah. I’ve never tasted that combination of flavors in my life. Me neither. Yes. It’s so hard to describe. Me neither. It is so good. And it’s not like over empowering. It’s just melts in your mouth. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Me too. Thank you. Welcome back to Imagination Central. Before you exit this episode, remember to follow Imagination Skyway on social media and share the show with anyone who might enjoy listening to our program. If you’re looking for ad free episodes and bonus content, become an Imagination Skyway Pass holder at patreon dot com slash Skyway. When you’re ready for your next vacation, remember that listeners of Imagination Skyway that’s. You can get rewarded for booking a trip to Disney in twenty twenty six through k m v travel. Voted the top travel agency in Orlando in twenty twenty five. Here’s how to do it. 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