Afternoon tea is making it’s way back to the Grand Floridian! After closing in early 2020, the tea experience has never reopened at the resort. With many of the hotel’s refurbishments wrapping up, the tea experience is coming back to Garden View Lounge with an Alice in Wonderland twist. In this post, we’ll share the details and menus for this new look experience.

The Garden View Lounge – Tea Experience will be opening its doors once again at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to bring guests on a whimsical afternoon tea extravaganza starting March 19, with reservations opening on February 19.

With new touches from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Alice in Wonderland, guests will be treated to an exciting experience. From small bites, both sweet and savory, to a selection of teas, the experience will be a journey with each sip and bite amongst the elegance of this beloved location, now with a whimsical touch. There are options for both adults and the little ones, making this an outing the whole family can enjoy together.

Disney’s beverage and culinary experts have gone down the rabbit hole and are ready for you to join them with this lineup of flavors. Here is the first look at the menu.

Beverage Menu

The first step of this experience includes the tea selection. Delight in the Twinings Loose Leaf Tea Selections, including special flavors and classics like London Strand Breakfast and Spicy Chai, as well as more unique flavor combinations like Orangery of Lady Grey, which is a unique black tea featuring bright, orange notes that is exclusive to the Walt Disney World Resort. The Nutty Chocolate Flavoured Assam black tea is a must-try with smooth chocolate and roasted hazelnut flavors and if you are looking for something caffeine-free, enjoy the Blackcurrant and Lavender herbal tea.

After selecting your tea with the guidance of expertly trained cast members who serve as your own tea guide, you’ll be able to create a tea that is customized for you. Next, you’ll choose an aromatic designed to accompany the tea which is added during the steeping process.

And that’s not all. There are also two signature tea-based cocktails – the Mint Tulip featuring Old Forester 1870 Original Batch Kentucky Straight Whiskey, Twinings Refreshers Peach Mango Tea Instant Beverage, and mint, and the Mar-TEA-ni with Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin, Twinings Earl Grey Tea, lemon, and honey. There’s also sparkling wine and champagne.

Visitors can also enjoy non-alcoholic specialty teas – the Curiosi-TEA with Twinings Refreshers Strawberry Raspberry Herbal Tea Instant Beverage with a touch of shimmering magic, and the This Way, That Way with Twinings Refreshers Peach Mango Tea Herbal Tea Instant Beverage and mint.

Food Menu

The culinary team at Garden View Lounge is working hard to bring to life the ultimate afternoon tea experience. Before getting to the tea tower of treats (holy alliteration, Batman!), your taste buds will be delighted with the Orange-Cranberry Scone with traditional accoutrements.

Now for the three-tiers of food. The savory selections include:  

• Curried Chicken Salad Playing Card Tart: Savory curried chicken salad filling topped with cherry gelée
• Footman’s Feast: Wonderland Salmon Crisp with a salmon rillette on a miso brown butter crisp
• Tweedledee Egg Salad Sandwich: A traditional egg salad on beet bread
• Caterpillar Cucumber Roll: A delicious combination with butterfly pea-infused cream cheese and cucumbers on pumpernickel

Then, enjoy a sweet finish with the following:

• The Matcha Mad Hatter: Sponge cake with apricot jam and yuzu buttercream
• Tea Party Tart: Vanilla tart, coffee custard, and chantilly cream
• Flamingo Croquet Choux filled with passion fruit cream and a raspberry crunch
• Painting the Rose: Earl Grey-flavored teacake painted tableside

And for those looking for plant-based options, there’s also an afternoon tea selection for you too. 

For some added delights, there are also enhancements you can indulge in – the Seasonal Cheese Selection or Royal Osetra Caviar with Mini Chive Biscuits and Traditional Accompaniments.

For the little ones, the Children’s Afternoon Tea features adorably delicious bites, including savory minis like the Queen of Hearts Cheese Toastie, a Fanciful Turkey Wrap, and a Sunflower Seed Butter and Jelly Bun. For dessert, there’s the Cheshire Cat Raspberry Macaron, the Chocolate Brownie Branch, and don’t be late for the vanilla White Rabbit Cupcake.

Commentary

We’re excited that another piece of the Grand Floridian puzzle is coming into place. Melissa’s even more excited that the piece is tea! I was never able to try the afternoon tea at the Garden View Lounge prior to it closing pre-pandemic but Melissa went once and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I’ve accompanied her (quite properly, of course) to other tea experiences and did enjoy myself. I like tea pretty well but it’s the egg salad sandwiches that really sell me.

This new look experience sounds fun and I’m sure we’ll give it a try in the next year. Alice in Wonderland is an easy tie-in but fitting of the Grand Floridian. By all means, this experience should be a good mix of whimsical, classy and Disney.

You’ll notice that there are no prices listed. We’ll be keeping an eye out for those but imagine the starting cost will be around $100. This isn’t going to be a cheap experience. Whether an afternoon tea will be worth that to you is up to the individual. I’m hopeful that this will be a lavish experience that’s worthy of a very high price tag! We’ll find out in just a few months.

Are you excited for the Tea Experience at the Grand Floridian? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disney World, then check out our planning guide. This site has discount tickets to Walt Disney World. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!