DDE & PE April 2005, Day 3

[Bob_and_Dawn]

Sunday 24th April 2005


I drove to the Grand Floridian, where you have to queue at the Magic Kingdom parking entry to gain access to the Magic Kingdom resort hotels.
Once through we arrived at the Grand Floridian by 1.40pm where we valet parked, then had a wander around the outside of the resort to kill time until our 2pm tea.

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At 2pm on the dot we were shown to our table in the Garden View Lounge by the host.
The Garden View Lounge is on the ground floor at the far end of the Lobby and has great views of the gardens and pool area.
Our server Amal from Casablanca, Morocco introduced herself and explained the menu to us.

Bill had decided on the Buckingham Palace, which is tea sandwiches, scones and jam tarts complimented by fresh strawberries and cream, or a selection of freshly baked pastries, as well as a pot of tea.

Jools had the Sally Lunn Tea which is sweet yeast bread served lightly toasted with apricot preserves. This is followed by a choice of either trifle or strawberries and cream, along with a pot of tea.

Dawn had the The Grand Tea, which is the classic English tradition of Afternoon Tea, Grand Floridian style. It contains tea sandwiches, scones and jam tarts, followed by your choice of our freshly baked tea pastries or English trifle, accompanied by a glass of sparkling wine and tea.

I had the Prince Edward's Tea this is an array of duck and cherry terrine, chicken & pork roulade, country pate en-croute, and English Blue Stilton. Served with marinated fresh berries and Cumberland sauce. After that there is the offer fresh baked scones served with rich Devonshire cream. A pot of tea with a glass of Fonseca Bin 27 Character, Port

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[Bob_and_Dawn]

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The server poked fun at Dawn and I when we asked to exchange the tea for coffee, and I wish I had my camera ready when she put the sandwiches down in front of Bill.
He said he was expecting maybe cheese and ham and was prepared for a piece of cucumber or two but didn’t like the idea of pear and cheese ones.
I don’t think he ate any of the sandwiches on his plate, which was OK because I got to eat them all along with my first course of pate and cheeses.
Dawn doesn’t like sparkling wine so Jools kindly offered to step in and drink it but no one offered to drink my port which is something I don’t like too much plus I was doing the driving.

The second course of fresh scones, cream and raspberry jam arrived for all except Jools whose course didn’t offer that selection.
This was certainly appreciated especially by Bill who hadn’t had anything to eat as yet.

I accidentally poured a small bit of Bills real tea into Dawns coffee cup before realising, but knowing what Dawn would have done if she would have tasted it I offered to drink it then refill it with coffee for her.
I will never volunteer to do this again as it was one of the most foulest tastes ever plus having a mouth full of chunks of tea leaves, it was all I could do to stop me chucking, never mind I managed to swallow it after a minute or two.

Dawn and Jools selected the trifle to finish the afternoon tea while Bill chose the berries and cream, but much to my distaste there was no third course with my option.

All in all it was an unusual tea, which differed in sandwich selection from any that I have had in the UK.
Bill for one would not have this again but he really enjoyed the scones plus berries and cream.

Jools loved both of her options and was certainly merrier after the sparkling wine.

Dawn tried some of her sandwiches but didn’t like them much at all, but thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the tea.

I got to try everything off everyone and I must say the meal was OK but not something I would choose to do again.
We would all eat from the a la carte menu, which offered separately
Strawberries and Cream.
Pastries.
English Trifle .
Freshly Baked Scones with Devonshire Cream and Preserves.
Jam Tarts.
Sally Lunn Bread.
Lemon Pound Cake.

The bill came to a total of $63.48+ tip and gave a saving of $18.78 by using the DDE card.

We left the Grand Floridian and headed back to Boardwalk for a rest and so I could type up the previous day report.
I had been wondering at this stage whether Dawn and Jools had anything left to launder as the washing machine and dryer had been rattling away constantly ever since we arrived at this resort; how on earth am I supposed to watch the Simpson’s with that racket?

[snowflake]

Oh all that food so looks delicious Bob_Dawn.
Once again great pics and report.
Thanks for sharing.

[juju]

love your reports,
but looking at the food made me hungry and i had to have a donut
(the diet can start tomorrow)

[nixieh]

Ooooh Bob I love tea (the meal and the drink) and those pictures are making me really hungry. We did the Disney Princess tea at the Garden View Lounge recently and it was lovely there.

Nicola

ps I have never been served trifle and sparkling wine at any British tea places before!!

[MarkandHelen]

Great report Bob,
We are hoping to try Johnny Rockets in June. Not sure about GF Afternoon Tea. I cannot imagine that the scones jam & cream would be as nice as here in my home county. Was it clotted cream?
Looking forward to your next report.

[REH]

Thanks for the report!

[Dollar_Bill]

Originally posted by Mark&Helen
Great report Bob,
We are hoping to try Johnny Rockets in June. Not sure about GF Afternoon Tea. I cannot imagine that the scones jam & cream would be as nice as here in my home county. Was it clotted cream?
Looking forward to your next report.

I would thoroughly recommend Johnny Rockets, and certainly give GF a miss. The scones were nice but not as nice as the ones we had last year on the Devon meet. We are looking forward to August to sample them again!!!:D

[Jools99]

Great report, dont think we would go for afternoon tea at the GF:wink :wink :wink :wink


Jools

[Muppet]

Wow you are getting some good savings with the DDE card.

Glad you all are having a fab time.

[Chelle27]

mmmmmm - licks lips - loving the piccies!!

[LBD]

Am enjoying your reports Bob. It's nice for a relative newbie like me to see the other side of Orlando!.......so it's not just full of theme parks then??

[Sean_and_Sue]

Great report - and those pictures of the food:nonono: :nonono: :nonono:

Told you already Bob - I'm supposed to be on a diet, and I am sooooo craving a warm scone with lashings of cream and strawberry jam right now:cry: I loved the discription of the GF - I think I would enjoy that, but I doubt it would appeal to the rest of my gang - not a chicken strip in sight:rolleyes:

Love Suexx

[loadsapixiedust]

An eventful afternoon tea, those pastries look delicious, I really shouldn't go near there, it wouldn't be safe.

[carrickdisfan]

Great to read your report and see the pictures as we are going to the Afternoon Tea in July. However I keep thinking how much better it would look if they had nice, white tablecloths on the tables.

[highlander447]

another mouth watering report:beer:

[AlisonB]

Great pictures!!

[mcsue]

What fab pics!
I'm thinking you did rather better than poor Bill at the GF tea! Well except for the mouthful of tea leaves YUK:eek:

[SamsCalling]

Wow - those scones look to die for!!!!! I LOVE scones :D :D :D :D :D

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ Thanx for posting.