Garden View Lounge Afternoon Tea--Table Service--Grand Floridian

On my 30th birthday, I wanted to do something special. I have always wanted to do the high tea at the Grand Floridian and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. I planned a 2 p.m. tea, so that we had 1 1/2 hours before our spa appointment at the Grand Floridian spa at 3:30. I thought this would give us plenty of time. It's only tea right?! Well, this turned out to be a disastrous affair, with rude waitstaff and rude guests and completely unprepared chefs. Previously, Chef Jeff Bliss had called me and arranged to make some salads and some desserts. Ah, too bad this didn't come to fruition. I believe there was some misscommunication because when we arrived, the waitresses said they thought I had food with my name on in it their fridge and later the chef (not Jeff Bliss) came out and totally ignored me and took forever (like 30+ minutes) to bring me a scoop of tuna and egg salad. I asked for no GF bread (because I was avoiding yeast) and I got bread (which I was told did have yeast in it).

Lovely tea and china!

To begin with, we were seated next to some really rude guests. They were very snooty and rude to everyone. This made my mom and I feel very uncomfortable (and I'm not usually bugged by people, rude or otherwise). The waitress was a bit curt. I ordered the Princess Breakfast tea which was strawberry vanilla rooibos. YUM! I was going to buy this, but didn't get the chance. The chef arrived and I explained that Jeff Bliss had spoken to me and made arrangements. Like I said, 30+ minutes later I got my food. My mom was already done with her sandwiches and scone.

My egg and tuna salad.

Taste wise, the salads were OK. Nothing spectacular. I have made better at home. I found the egg salad to be overly mayonnaised (is that a word?!) As time progressed, I realized we only had 30 minutes before our spa appointment and our waitress and the chef weren't in any hurry to let us leave, so we asked the waitress for the desserts and our bill. (i.e. pack the desserts to go) She got very rude and said it was 4:30 not 3:30 and I had to literally show her my watch. She was like "Fine. I guess." She got my mom a dessert, and tossed a cut up, pre-done (i.e. French Meadow) brownie at me. Ummmm, I thought I was getting a dessert made for me?! At this point, we were so frustrated and I was getting upset, so we decided to forget it and leave. I got charged for the Buckingham Palace which was $19.50 and I got very minimal amounts of food, compared to my mom. I wasn't expecting a meal by any means, but I was expecting some effort to be put forth, especially in the place where the pastry chefs made a big deal about calling me to make a dessert. Sad really. They didn't sell me on their bakery, their service, or ever staying at the Grand Floridian.

Overall, I give this a big fat 5 out of 10. Mostly because of the bad service and lack of accommodation. I'd have let the accommodation part go if it wasn't for the big deal they made about it prior to me arriving. Disappointing and something I probably won't do again. Thankfully, California Grill made up for this tea when I went there for dinner.