During our trip planning our group decided that we wanted to see the Pointer Sisters Garden Rocks Concert on our Epcot day and that we wanted to do one character meal during our trip. Because of my positive previous experiences at Garden Grill, I thought it would be a good choice for our group. With breakfast being the least expensive meal option there, we were looking at paying $47 per person (plus tax & gratuity) for the 7 of us. When the Garden Rocks Concert Dining Packages came out, the package price was only an additional $11 more at $58 per person (plus tax & gratuity). So in other words, by paying an additional $11 per person we would be guaranteed seats in the Dining Package Reserve section of the American Gardens Theater for the Pointer Sisters concert. This was on the day after Easter, which we thought would be a busy day at the parks. Also, the Garden Grill breakfast was one of the least expensive of the dining package options which could be reserved in advance. The others varied in price from $50 for Spice Road Table to $99 for Le Cellier, with Spice Road Table being the only cheaper table service option. We considered the quick service option of Regal Eagle Smokehouse for $36 but it was only offered on a first come, first serve walk-up basis on the day of the concert. So, with all things considered I decided that the Garden Grill breakfast option worked best for our group. I booked the dining package online 60 days in advance of our trip along with our other dining reservations for the week. Like the other reservations it required a credit card guarantee to book this, but you don’t pay for your meal until you dine at the restaurant. And like most other Disney dining reservations, there is a $10 per guest fee charged to your credit card if you don’t cancel at least two hours in advance and then don’t show up for your reservation. Two other notes to add regarding the process of making this reservation. First was that the only concert time available with the Garden Grill breakfast package was the first concert of the evening at 5:30 (which worked out fine for us). To get a dining package tied to the 6:45 or 8:00 p.m. concerts you had to choose a more expensive lunch or dinner either at Garden Grill or one of the other Epcot restaurants with available packages. The other observation I made, which relates more to our group’s size and this restaurant, is that we had to make two reservations for close to the same time to accommodate our party of 7. One reservation was made in my name for my husband and myself (party of 2). Then my son made a reservation for the rest of our group (party of 5). We had to do it this way as there were no dining reservations available (package or regular) at this restaurant for parties larger than 6. When we checked in at the restaurant we asked if we could be seated together and were accommodated with just a short wait.
Ok, now on to our breakfast. Shortly after being seated, Farmer Mickey visited our table…
Our server then came to take our drink orders. We were each allowed to order one or two non-alcoholic beverages. I believe our options were POG juice (passion fruit, orange, and guava), Orange juice, Apple juice, Milk, Chocolate Milk, Coffee, Tea, or various sodas.
I ordered both coffee and OJ plus asked for a glass of water…
In the background, my son’s choice of chocolate milk is showing.
Also, I had to take a photo of the cute bottle that the cream for my coffee was served in…
Three of us had coffee and two of us thought it was fine (including me) but the other thought it was bad.
Several chose the POG juice (no photo) as one of their beverage options and all of them seemed to enjoy it.
The first food brought to our table was a Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf…
I think we actually may have gotten two loaves of bread for our group. The ratings on the Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf were mostly 3’s but I gave it a 4. However, I must admit that it was not nearly as good as the Chip & Dale Sticky Buns that they used to serve here for breakfast. Those were heavenly!
Along with the loaves of bread we were also served two platters of Watermelon Slices…
While most of us like watermelon, it would be nice to have other fruit options available for those that aren’t fans.
Also, because of Emily’s gluten sensitivity, she was served a Gluten-free Blueberry Muffin…
Emily said that she couldn’t tell that it was gluten-free, so that was a positive. Same thing with the gluten-free Mickey waffles she was served. The only negative regarding the muffin was that she is not really a fan of blueberry but that was the only option available. So, she gave the blueberry muffin a rating of 3.
The next character to visit our table was Pluto…
After some fun interaction and pics with Pluto, our skillets of hot food arrived…
Starting with the Mickey waffles and moving clockwise are Scrambled Free-range Eggs, Backyard Grilled Steak topped with Farmer’s Ranchero Sauce, Smoked Bacon, and Skillet Potatoes.
To my surprise, everyone except me thought the waffles were just okay and rated them a 3. I of course had to give them a 4 because they are Mickey shaped. Oh, and I like that they have a hint of vanilla flavoring. Also, some didn’t like the scrambled eggs and rated them only a 2 or 2 1/2. I guess I’m not as picky when it comes to scrambled eggs because I thought they were fine and gave them a rating of 3. The flank steak fared better with our group, receiving ratings of 3 or 4. I thought the sauce gave it a nice flavor/tang. The steak was the preferred meat for our group, as the bacon only received ratings of 2 1/2 or 3. It did not compare well with the thicker, more flavorful bacon that I had had at Homecomin’ the day before. We all agreed though that the best thing in the skillet was the potatoes. They were well seasoned and cheesy but not mushy. We had to ask for more of these because everyone liked them. We rated them a solid 4.
Back to the characters now. The next visitors to our table were the chipmunks.
First came Dale…
And then Chip (with the chocolate chip nose)…
And then Mickey returned for a group photo (or at least with the “youngsters” of our group)…
And as we were getting up to leave Pluto stopped to take one more photo with Andrew…
So overall the character interactions were great here. Unfortunately, the food was not as good as I remember it being the last time I had breakfast at Garden Grill in 2016. The cheesy potatoes were an improvement over the tater tots from years ago though. But otherwise, the food was a bit disappointing. I especially missed those Chip & Dale Sticky Buns. I mean, just look at them…
Taste of Disney 