REVIEW: Garden View Tea Room Returns With 'Alice in Wonderland' Tea Experience at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

After a six-year closure, the refurbished tea room has finally reopened with a new tea experience at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Here are our thoughts on the updated décor and new menu.

Inside the Garden View Tea Room

Garden View Tea Room at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort in Walt Disney World

The Garden View Lounge is at the opposite end of the lobby from the resort’s main entrance. It has new stained glass windows featuring birds native to Florida. The surrounding lobby was reimagined last year including new furnishings and carpet.

The tea room is presented by Twinings of London and features a variety of Twinings teas. Reservations are highly recommended.

The reimagined interior incorporates the Victorian style of the resort with Alice in Wonderland-inspired touches. It resembles a sunlit conservatory with floor-to-ceiling windows so that natural light pours in all day.

The furniture blends modern comfort with classic Victorian designs with floral patterns and plush fabrics in gentle shades of green, blue, and gold. There are various styles of chairs and benches. The carpet is inspired by winding garden vines and features hidden Mickeys.

Alice in Wonderland teacup artwork is on the paper menu.

The plates and teacups feature flowers and birds.

At the start of the experience, the server pours hot water and provides towels for you to clean your hands.

At the end, guests receive a postcard print of the flowers from Alice in Wonderland with the Garden View Lounge logo. On the back is a poem including your party’s name.

Adult Menu

The new tea experience is $79 per adult and $49 per child (ages 3 to 9), plus tax and gratuity.

This price includes Twinings Loose Leaf Tea Selections, both caffeinated and without caffeine.

Orangery of Lady Grey: 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. Contains Caffeine
London Strand Breakfast: Bold and malty Assam black teas with golden-tipped leaves for richness and a full-bodied finish. Contains Caffeine
Nutty Chocolate Flavoured Assam: Rich Assam black tea meets the flavours of smooth chocolate and roasted hazelnuts. A blend inspired by the timeless pairing of tea and chocolate. Contains Caffeine
Spicy Chai: A blend of African black tea and Rooibos flavoured with fragrant spices for a rich and delicious Chai. Contains Caffeine
Exotic Mango & Ginger: A rich, fragrant blend of glorious mango and ginger layered over a base of green tea. Contains Caffeine
Lemongrass & Peppermint: Refreshing lemongrass blended with sweet peppermint, creating an uplifting, smooth herbal citrus infusion. Naturally Caffeine-free
Redbush Caramel Velvet: A vibrant copper-red herbal infusion made from South African redbush leaves. Flavoured with caramel and safflowers for a smooth, comforting cup. Naturally Caffeine-free
Blackcurrant & Lavender: Rich and fragrant, this herbal blend delivers the essence of autumn-fiery golden leaves, vibrant holly berries, and fields of amber harvests. Naturally Caffeine-free

It also includes the Afternoon Tea Tower with these treats:

Orange-Cranberry Scone
Curried Chicken Salad Playing Card Tart
Footman’s Feast: Wonderland Salmon Crisp
Tweedledee Egg Salad Sandwich
Caterpillar Cucumber Roll
Matcha Mad Hatter
Tea Party Tart
Flamingo Croquet Choux
Painting the Rose

Enhancements, non-alcoholic specialty teas, cocktails, champagnes, and sparkling wines cost extra. Pricing is as follows:

Enhancements

Seasonal Cheese Selection – $21
Royal Ossetra Caviar – $150
- with Mini Chive Biscuits and Traditional Accompaniments

Non-Alcoholic Specialty Teas

Curiosi-TEA – $7.29
- Twinings® Strawberry Raspberry Refreshers Herbal Tea with a touch of shimmering magic
This Way, That Way – $5.99
- Twinings® Peach Mango Tea Refreshers Herbal Tea, Mint

Cocktails

Mint Tulip – $19.50
- Old Forester 1870 Original Batch Kentucky Straight Whiskey, Twinings® Peach Mango Tea Refreshers Herbal Tea, Mint
Mar-TEA-ni – $18.50
- Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, Twinings® Earl Grey Tea, Lemon, Honey

Champagnes and Sparkling Wines

Taittinger ‘La Française’ Brut, Champagne, France – Bottle for $126, Glass for $32
Raventós i Blanc ‘de Nit,’ Penedès, Spain – Bottle for $62, Glass for $16
Bride Valley Blanc de Blancs, Dorset, England – Bottle for $140
Piper-Heidsieck ‘Rare’ Cuvée Brut, Champagne, France – Bottle for $480

Kid Menu

The front of the menu is white with Mad Tea Party-esque tea cups.

The Alice in Wonderland-inspired menu items include:

Orange-Cranberry Scone
Fanciful Turkey Wrap
Sunflower Seed Butter and Jelly Bun
Queen of Hearts Cheese Toastie
Cheshire Cat Raspberry Macaron
Chocolate Brownie Branch
White Rabbit Cupcake

On the opposite page is an image of the Mad Hatter serving Alice some tea. It reads “Your tea is brewing, so while you wait, here’s a teacup to decorate!” The white tea cup at the bottom is plain to allow children to color it.

The following pages have more coloring options, a word search, spot the difference, and a maze.

Review

Twinings Tea Selections

We received description cards with each of the teas we selected. We tried the Nutty Chocolate Flavoured Assam, caffeine-free Redbush Caramel Velvet, and Orangery of Lady Grey.

Nutty Chocolate Flavoured Assam
Rich Assam black tea meets the flavours of smooth chocolate and roasted hazelnuts. A blend inspired by the timeless pairing of tea and chocolate. Contains Caffeine

This is very aromatic. It’s nutty with just a hint of chocolate. The cream enhances the flavors. Everything works well together.

Rating out of 7: 6

Redbush Caramel Velvet
A vibrant copper-red herbal infusion made from South African redbush leaves. Flavoured with caramel and safflowers for a smooth, comforting cup. Naturally Caffeine-free

This is an herbal tea on the sweeter side with a caramel flavor. Adding cream tamps down some of the sharpness of the hot tea and brings out the caramel more. It’s a richer tea and we would give it a 6 with the cream but a 4 without.

Rating out of 7: 4

Cocktails

Mar-TEA-ni – $18.50
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, Twinings® Earl Grey Tea, Lemon, Honey

This is great. The lemon comes through. You may not like this if you don’t like a strong lemon flavor. It’s refreshing and light, pairing well with the tea. It’s a good choice if you want something tangy.

Rating out of 7: 5

Mint Tulip – $19.50
Old Forester 1870 Original Batch Kentucky Straight Whiskey, Twinings® Peach Mango Tea Refreshers Herbal Tea, Mint

If you want a sweeter cocktail, go with the Mint Tulip. It’s sweet and minty. We didn’t get a lot of the mango tea flavor but still enjoyed it. The mix of ingredients smooths out nicely.

Rating out of 7: 6

Afternoon Tea Tower

The orange-cranberry scone is served on the side with Devonshire cream, orange marmalade, and whipped butter. The scone is flaky and thick. It’s a bit dry but the toppings balance that out. The server recommended mixing the cream and marmalade, which was a delightful combination.

Rating out of 7: 6

The tower moves up from savory to sweet options. The presentation is tip-top with themed elements on every item. Though we weren’t wowed by the taste of most of these, we know presentation is the priority here and they nailed it.

On the bottom is the Footman’s Feast and Playing Card Tart. The Footman’s Feast has a puffed rice and Chinese noodles base with a miso ground butter. It’s topped off with salmon roulade and roux. The Playing Card Tart is a curried chicken salad topped with cherry.

The Playing Card Tart was our favorite savory option. It looked delicate but a bite felt substantial.

The salmon was not what we expected. It was spicy and flavorful. The salmon itself was good but we didn’t like the puffed rice base.

On the middle plate is the Caterpillar Cucumber Roll on toasted pumpernickel with cream cheese. The cheese is folded in with butterfly cream tea, giving it the blue color. It’s joined by the Tweedledee Egg Salad Sandwich with arugula butter and crumbled bacon.

The Caterpillar Cucumber Roll looked cute but was our least favorite savory option. It wasn’t bad, just un-interesting. The Tweedledee Egg Salad Sandwich was also just fine.

The top of the tower has a variety of sweets. The Matcha Mad Hatter is matcha cake with apricot jam. The Tea Party Tart (resembling a teacup on a table) is a coffee custard. The Flamingo Croquet Choux is a puff pastry filled with passionfruit cream. And Painting the Rose is a berry cake with rose buttercream that starts out white but the server “paints” it red with berry rose sauce.

They warned us the Matcha Mad Hatter is liable to stain your hands green. It was delicious, although very thick and sturdy so we didn’t end up finishing ours.

The Flamingo Croquet Choux had a great eclair-like cream filling. The white chocolate head and wing make it look adorable.

Our favorite was the super cute Tea Party Tart. The tea cup on top is excellent chocolate and cream. We ate this whole treat.

Painting the Rose was not flavorful or memorable beyond the experience of “painting” it.

Rating out of 7: 5

Seasonal Cheese Selection – $21

This enhancement comes with a rack of crostini plus brûlée figs to eat with the cheeses. The selection is seasonal so might change but our platter included:

Stilton cheesecake topped with red wine poached pear — this is the retired recipe from Victoria & Albert’s
Purple Haze goat cheese topped with tomato jam in a filo cup
Truffle brie mousse topped with an oregano bloom
Comté topped with quince jam

These are delicious cheeses in a beautiful presentation. We like the variety, with both soft and hard cheeses. The figs offer a nice break from cheese. Considering the quality and that these are custom-presented cheeses, $21 is a wonderful value. This was the highlight of the experience for us.

Rating out of 7: 7

Overall Thoughts

It’s nice to have this space open again. It will be a great option for bridal showers, Mother’s Day, and other events.

Note that you do have to pay the experience fee in advance. You pay for any added cocktails or enhancements in-person. There is a 24-hour cancelation policy.

This is fancy and intimate but approachable. If you’ve never had an afternoon tea experience, you might feel overwhelmed or out of place at first. The servers made sure we were comfortable, however. Ultimately, the experience has a relaxed vibe.

Service was fantastic and prompt. We got our teas, cocktails, and cheese plate within a few minutes.

The servers are great at recommending teas to guests who might not know what to get. And though we started with just one flavor of tea each, the server later asked if we wanted to try something else, so you aren’t necessarily limited to just one option.

$79 per adult sounds expensive but we have spent much more at Walt Disney World for meals and experience. The price feels right for this and, like we said, the cheese plate in particular is a great value compared to other charcuterie boards on property.

Overall rating out of 7: 6