The kids adored meeting Chip ‘n’ Dale at an Epcot meet and greet last time we visited, so a Garden Grill Epcot character meal with these cheerful chipmunks was high on their wish list this time around.
This is one of the few places you can meet Chip ‘n’ Dale in the whole of Disney World and they’re always a lot of fun. Cheeky and full of cuddles.
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Walt Disney World character dining
While Mickey, Minnie and the big name princesses are the most well-known and therefore popular characters to meet at Disney World, there are certain characters whose personalities make them worth seeking out.
Chip, Dale, Pluto and Stitch are mischievous little imps, who are just as likely to cover your face with their hands in a photo as stand politely. They will sneak up behind you as Stitch did to me at Ohana, or they will kiss your hands and make you giggle like Dale did to Alannah at Garden Grill Epcot.
Meet and greets around the parks can be lots of fun, but as these are few and far between, with specific times not always available, a character meal is by far the easiest and most relaxed way to meet them.
If you can’t fit a character meal in, see how fun a Chip ‘n’ Dale meet and greet can be from our last visit here.
Read our full Epcot itinerary and guide to Fast Passes here.
Garden Grill Epcot
The setting of the Garden Grill Disney restaurant is somewhat unique in that it is circular and slowly revolves. You sit in a booth which faces outwards and at times you overlook the Living with the Land ride. This means scenes such as a rainforest, farmhouse, thunderstorm, sandstorm and prairie.
The kids loved the novelty of this and thought it was one of the highlights, whereas David and I found it a bit dark and enclosed since you can’t see outside from your table.
Bookings are offered almost continuously all day, starting with breakfast, then an hour break before lunch and an hour break before dinner.
All meals are served family-style, which means large share plates are brought to your table. This saves having to leave your table like at a buffet, but is more limited in the choices of food available.
Overall, this was one of the kids’ favourite character meals. They adored Chip ‘n’ Dale and enjoyed the rotating restaurant and food.
Garden Grill characters
Chip, Dale and other Disney characters (usually Mickey and Pluto) will visit your table over the course of your meal.
Mickey’s the only character who wears clothes and he will be in his farmer outfit, as this meal is a celebration of harvest time in America.
Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast is full of typically American food served family-style, with many of the vegetables grown on site.
Garden Grill breakfast
Share plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown and Mickey waffles will be brought to your table. Also, fruit and sticky bun bake (you’ll get a sugar rush just from looking at this one!).
Garden Grill lunch and dinner
We had lunch so this was our menu. Some things we liked and others we didn’t, which is what you’re going to get when you have little choice.
Firstly, rolls and a big garden salad is brought to your table. The rolls were lovely and soft, but the salad wasn’t anything special.
Next, the “kids'” food arrives. Unfortunately my kids do not like macaroni and cheese, which seems to be an American kids’ staple. And, given that we were away for a month, we were trying to make healthy choices at every meal, so not many fries disappeared.
The main meal was absolutely delicious though. Pot roast, carved pork and turkey breast were served with mashed potatoes, stuffing and vegetables. Not unlike a traditional roast dinner at home. The meat was succulent, the mashed potatoes were smooth and creamy, and there was a good array of vegetables.
For dessert is a Berry Short Cake, which we weren’t fans of, not that we needed any more food. It was like pound cake with berry compote and ice cream on top. I found it a bit bland.
The kids were pretty happy with their chocolate chip cookies though.
Garden Grill Epcot price
Prices are variable depending on which meal you attend.
We found in early 2019 that breakfast was about US$40 per adult, and lunch and dinner were about US$55 per adult. Kids are around 2/3 the adult price.
More information and reservations on the Disney site.
Bookings open 180 days in advance and I recommend diarising to make your booking at that point. Remember that you don’t have to pay anything until you have your meal and you can cancel bookings up until 1 day in advance without penalty. If you’re not sure when you want to go, then make a few bookings and cancel the ones you don’t want at a later time.
Having said that, I found the Epcot Garden Grill character meal to be one of the easier bookings to get.
Three Garden Grill tips
1. Have the kids sit on the outside of the table closest to the characters so they can easily jump up for a hug.
2. Get your autograph books open at the page you want signed. And don’t forget a pen! A texta or Sharpie is easiest for the characters to hold and write with.
3. There are no Photopass photographers inside the restaurant, so be ready with your camera or phone when the characters are getting close. You will need to take your photos from your seat.
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