REVIEW: Come to Disney World’s Secret Central Park-Themed Restaurant With Us!

While you are at Disney World, you are bound to work up quite the appetite! From traversing the parks to riding attractions and meeting characters, you will want some good food to fuel your adventures.

Here at AllEars, we know all the ins and outs of Disney World restaurants — including where you should eat and where you should skip. We recently stopped by Garden Grove at the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel and are bringing you our FULL review!

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, especially at Disney World. You gotta be powered for all the magic! One of the great parts about Disney World is that there are fantastic restaurants outside of the parks, too. Today, we are headed over to the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel for a hidden breakfast spot to see if it is worth your time and money!

Background

Garden Grove is located inside the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel. This hotel is owned by Marriott, so it is NOT on the Disney Dining Plan. You can get here by walking from EPCOT, taking a boat from EPCOT, utilizing the hotel’s transportation, or parking in the hotel’s parking lot. However, if you choose to drive, you must pay for parking at the hotel. It costs $38 for self-parking and $46-$56 for valet parking.

If you are hoping to dine at Garden Grove, the restaurant offers fairly limited hours. It is only open for breakfast Thursday through Monday from 7 AM until 11:30 AM. The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and does not offer lunch or dinner. Previously, the restaurant offered additional meals and even had character dining; however, currently, only breakfast is offered, and there is no character dining.

The restaurant is designed to make you feel like you are dining at an eatery in New York’s Central Park. The main centerpiece is a 25-foot-tall oak tree decorated with lights and lanterns. As you dine, you are surrounded by tree murals, large windows, and lots of green and wood accents. The restaurant itself is round, which adds to the natural feeling of the design.

Here’s what you need to know about dining at this restaurant.

Atmosphere

You enter Garden Grove in the same hallway as Kimonos, located in the main section of the Swan Hotel.

When you arrive, you’ll check in at the host’s stand and take a seat in the lobby area while you wait for your table to be called.

This area’s pretty sparsely decorated, but there’s a focus on earth tones to match with the vibe of the “garden” and the oak tree.

The inside of the restaurant is truly stunning with the large tree, surrounding lanterns, and domed ceiling. There’s a lot of warm lighting in here that makes it feel natural and cozy.

But enough about that, what are we eating?!

Food & Drinks

First up, we grabbed the Croque Madame for $22. This is made with thinly shaved ham, gruyere cheese, sourdough bread, sunny side up egg, mornay sauce, petite greens, and balsamic dressing.

This was deliciously savory and quite filling for a breakfast option. The ham is salty and smoky, which complements the creamy, nutty Gruyere cheese exceptionally well. The bread remained crispy and toasted even after sitting for a while, and the sunny side up eggs added some extra depth to the overall flavor of the sandwich. The salad on the side had a nice tangy vinaigrette that brightened up the lettuce. A yummy meal overall!

We also grabbed the Belgian Waffle for $19. It is a waffle topped with house-made berry compote, sweetened vanilla butter, cinnamon sugar, and maple syrup.

The waffle was nice and crispy, but just a little bit dry on the inside. The toppings helped even that dryness out with the sweet berry compote that reminded us a bit of pie filling. Overall, it was fairly sugary.

To drink, we picked up the Pomegranate Red Wine Sangria for $12. This was deliciously fruity, while also having some sweetness and some tannins. There wasn’t too much pucker-your-face kind of action here, but it was strong on citrus while being a little lighter on the actual pomegranate.

So where did this meal land for us?

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• …you love the Central Park vibe. With the trees and the tall ceiling and the lanterns, this really feels like dining in the park.
• …you’re staying at the Swan and want a decent breakfast. The meal was fairly delicious and it would be a convenient breakfast spot if you’re staying at this hotel.

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• …you’re on a budget. This meal is a bit expensive for what you get, and if you’re staying at a different property, this restaurant does NOT validate parking, which is $38.
• …you like quiet meals. Due to the construction of the restaurant, there’s a lot of echo in the dining space, which makes this fairly loud.
• …you’re in a hurry. Short staffing made our meal pretty long, so keep that in mind if you make plans to dine here.

Due to the price and atmosphere, this meal probably isn’t going to make our list of top recommended spots for breakfast in Disney World, but the food was still fairly good. If you’re staying at the Swan and Dolphin Hotels, it might be worth a try, but we wouldn’t necessarily say you should go out of your way to try it.

 

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.

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