Refreshed Spaces and Refreshed Tastes Arrive this Spring as Disney's Grand Floridian Resort Reopens Their Garden View Lounge

The recently refreshed Garden View Lounge at Walt Disney World's Flagship Resort is ready to debut to guests this Spring.

What’s Happening: 

• Guests visiting Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World in recent months have noticed that the Garden View Lounge has been temporarily closed, especially as the lobby of the flagship Walt Disney World Resort hotel underwent a recent refurbishment.
• Now, we are learning when the Garden View Lounge is set to reopen, complete with their signature tea experience. 
• Because you can’t just have an elegant tea lounge at Walt Disney World, new touches from the Walt Disney Animation Studios classic, Alice in Wonderland, have been integrated into the experience. 

• Guests will be able to enjoy a vast selection of Twinings Loose Leaf Tea, 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. 
• A Nutty Chocolate Flavoured Assam black tea and a caffeine-free Blackcurrant and Lavender herbal tea are also available as part of the selection. 
• After guests select their tea with expertly trained Cast Members, they will be able to create a custom tea just for them. 

• Two signature tea-based cocktails will also debut -  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.

• Non-alcoholic specialty teas – the Curiosi-TEA with Twinings Refreshers Strawberry Raspberry Herbal Tea Instant Beverage, and the This Way, That Way with Twinings Refreshers Peach Mango Tea Herbal Tea Instant Beverage and mint are also available. 
• Champagne and sparkling wine will also be available at the location.
• A tea tower of treats will also be presented to those partaking in the experience, made up of three tiers of food: 
  • 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 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
• Enhancements include a Seasonal Cheese Selection or Royal Osetra Caviar with Mini Chive Biscuits and Traditional Accompaniments.

• A Children’s Afternoon Tea will feature items like the Queen of Hearts Cheese Toastie, a Fanciful Turkey Wrap, and a Sunflower Seed Butter and Jelly Bun. For dessert, the Cheshire Cat Raspberry Macaron, the Chocolate Brownie Branch, and the vanilla White Rabbit Cupcake will be on offer.
• The whimsical and enhanced experience is set to open on March 19, but guests looking to make a reservation can do so as early as February 19. 
  

A Victorian Venue: 

• Tea is quite the celebration at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, playing into the Victorian design elements and theme of the resort. 
• In fact, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is one of the best-known examples of Victorian-inspired designs in a modern hospitality setting. 
• The architecture and detailing deliberately evoke the elegance and leisurely luxury of the late 19th and early 20th century seaside resorts. 
• The resort’s iconic white-painted facades, red gabled roofs, turrets, dormers, and wraparound verandas are hallmarks of Victorian-era seaside hotels. These elements recall historic resorts like the Hotel del Coronado in California and the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel in Florida, both legendary examples of late-19th-century resort architecture.
• Even in the resort’s recent refurbishment, Disney leaded into Victorian design inspiration. The new lobby bar was crafted with intricate woodwork, stained glass, and brass accents that pay homage to classic Victorian craft traditions, echoing the iconic birdcage elevator that was a lobby mainstay for decades. New lobby carpets and murals draw on Victorian-era motifs like the “Language of Flowers,” blending traditional floral symbolism with Florida’s subtropical flora. 
• To visit the iconic Walt Disney World Resort hotel for yourself, be sure to reach out to our friends at Mouse Fan Travel!