Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room - Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

I recently asked Michelle Couch if she would be interested in doing a guest blog post about afternoon tea at the Garden View Tea Room at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, one of her favorite gluten free experiences at Disney World.  

Michelle is a self-professed Disney food addict.  She was diagnosed with celiac disease when she was five years old, and Disney World has become her family's number one vacation spot because of their amazing accommodations for special diets.  

The atmosphere of the Garden View Tea Room cannot be beat! I love to get a later reservation for afternoon tea, so you can sip tea while listening to the live music from the gorgeous lobby.

My personal favorite tea that they offer is the Princess Breakfast Tea, which is an organic rooibos tea with vanilla beans and a hint of strawberry. Add a sugar cube and tada! It’s the best tea I’ve ever had. They would also be happy to make it an iced tea, which is the way my mom prefers, because she is not a big hot tea drinker.

The menu offers a few different options for your meal. The Bedfordshire Tea has everything that I love. The first course comes with finger sandwiches, cheese, and fruit.

The sandwiches available when I went in February were egg salad, chicken curry, and a cucumber sandwich. All of them were delicious, and the bread was perfectly soft. I was also served bread with goat cheese and golden beets. The cheeses were an Irish cheddar and a sage cheese. The Irish cheddar is now one of our favorite cheeses. The sage cheese is very unique and delicious.  

Above is a picture of all of the gluten free sandwich options that you could be served. Now, after the recent menu change, they serve three of these with the cheese and berries. I have had egg salad, roast beef, ham, smoked salmon, and cucumber sandwiches. My favorite has to be the egg salad, some of the best I have had.

For the second course, instead of the jam tart and scones, the tea room offers slices of bread from Erin McKenna’s Bakery. I enjoyed slices of lemon poppy seed and strawberry bread. Both were delicious as always.

The accompaniments for the scones are all gluten free. They include strawberry jam, clotted cream, and my favorite, lemon curd. I promise that you will not miss the scones for a second.

For the final course, typically the pastry course, gluten free diners will be able to choose between a plate with macaroons, chocolate mousse cups and berries, or strawberries and cream. For me, the star of the plate is the chocolate mousse cups. They are so beautiful, and perfect for a devoted chocolate fanatic like me. I love the hard dark chocolate shell filled with the creamy milk chocolate mousse. 

The strawberries and cream dessert is another great option.  It is a fresh, light, and naturally gluten free. 

Afternoon tea is served at the Garden View Tea Room daily between 2:00 and 5:00. Advance dining reservations  should be made 180 days in advance, if possible, because they are hard to get.  You can follow Michelle on Instagram, and check out all of her amazing food photos at @mac_1031.

You can read more about afternoon tea at the Garden View Tea Room and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.  

August 9, 2015 Update - Michelle recently started a blog called Gluten Free for Life, which you can check out here.  She has already posted some great Disney reviews, and a recipe for peanut butter cookies.