Garden Grove at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin

Food was mediocre at best.

Our server peter was AWESOME. Same characters and “specials” as previous night tho

I would steer clear of this restaurant for a character dining. The characters were fine but the restaurant appeared very disorganized. The food was terrible. You pay $40 for a buffet that is barely eatable. It’s unfortunate that we ended up paying for a second character dining experience somewhere else to get the full experience. This restaurant has some work to do to meet Disney’s renowned standards with us. Taking the time to explain to your table the menu and what to expect with the buffet menu options is also important—this restaurant did not do this. Save your money with this one and go down the street to Cape May Cafe.

The food was okay, same as most Disney buffets. It did have a nice seafood selection. However, they were understaffed. It’s a problem when you have to clear your own table at buffet restaurant. Service was slow, not up to most Disney dining standards but the same $$ prices.

New Year’s Eve dinner. This was our 2nd New Year’s Eve dinner and both times we had Oscar as our waiter. Oscar gave us great service both times and we are going back next year and we will request Oscar as he is one of the deciding factors on returning. The food is excellent with many choices to satisfy even the pickiest of diners. The atmosphere is nice and the characters visit each table. You will not be disappointed going here to eat for an occasion.

Perfect menu together with the characters .... Did not this option existed

Eve Christmas dinner

We have been going to the Garden Grove restaurant once a year around Christmas for the past few years. We enjoy the character dining and then walking around the boardwalk to see the Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, our last visit this past week made us decide to choose another restaurant next year.
When we arrived, we found out that they only had the seafood buffet available. In previous years, we were able to order from a menu on Sundays. I should have checked beforehand.
On previous visits, the service was outstanding. This time it was less than average. Our server acted indifferent and less than enthusiastic. Then he added a $21 charge to our bill for my 2 year granddaughter even though the website states children under 3 are free. So we had to get that adjusted before we left.
The buffet was average. There was no bread and only one salad choice. Caesar salad with very little dressing. We had to ask for more which was a hassle.
Overall we were all disappointed this time and decided we would look for another restaurant in the future.

Food was great. Only problem was crab legs were very difficult to get the meat out.

We went to the seafood buffet at the Swan, Garden Grove. We were seated and served right away by our courteous server. Everything we tried at the buffet, along with the fried seafood basket and lobster was fresh and delicious. We had both the red and white wine sangrias with our meal and both were very tasty as well.

The food was good except for the clam strips being overdone, they were so hard you could barely bite threw them. The crab leggs were also overcooked, did not detrsct from the flavor, just made them hard to get the meat out of the shell. The split stuffed maine lobster was fantastic. The rest of the food was good but there really was not much of a variety snd the dessert bar was lacking. For the price I expected better.

Great all you can eat soup, salad, bread and dessert bars. Ordered the pasta which came out over cooked.

We had the worst experience ever! Our first time here and expected to have an amazing experience but it was the opposite! Our server was behind from the beginning, he greeted us anout 10 mins after we sat! We needed refills on drinks and he didn’t notice our glass was empty, my husband ask for another ginger ale and he said ok and brought it out 10 mins later! He got sat two big parties on the bottom floor area where and he totally neglected us! I has asked him for more clams and shrimp and he said I don’t know I’ll have to ask the cook.. I thought it was all you can eat so I didn’t think it was a problem to ask for more! He never came back to tell us no. He just didn’t come back! The food was not good, the New York strip was tough and my one lobster that my dinner came with was undercooked (so i didn’t eat it) my husband burned his hand while trying to scoop mussels onto his plate, the ladle was scorching hot, the guy behind him cursed when he picked it up! After the longest most unpleasant dinner ever we finally got our check and he didn’t even apologize for making us wait, we gave him our parking ticket to get validated and he brought it back with our payment and we thought he validated it. But as we left the parking lot they charged us $25 so he obviously ignored our request to validate the ticket! This is not a cheap dinner to blow off, we paid good money and chose this establishment to dine at hoping we had made a great choice! We will not recommend this place to anyone ever! Just horrible.

Excellent experience!

The food was pretty good. We had no trouble getting a reservation. There were 5 of us (one was under 3 and free) and our bill came to $168. The kids got to meet Goofy and Pluto, which they loved, but I'm not sure it was worth that amount of money. It was seafood night and even though I like seafood...nothing was "amazing" on the buffet. My girls barely at anything...a chicken nugget and a couple bites of mac n cheese...so the bill seemed really pricey to me for that. Oh well...done and over with.

Loved coming back to Disney World now that I'm all grown up and adulting. Perfect for anyone staying at the Dolphin/Swan. Parking available at the Swan to those driving over.

Had a memorable experience. Made reservations on a weeknight, buffet included in price of main that you choose. My partner and I ordered the prime rib and chicken, both large portions. Despite the other reviews, I thought the pricing was fair. It was quiet and not busy, which was a plus. Enjoyed the clam chowder soup and selection of desserts. Nothing was spectacular, but good. Our waiter was polite and attentive.

Main reason to go here is to meet the Characters. Best way to meet them than waiting forever in line to get a photo. More interactive and Characters spend more time with you. I think for the future, they could offer a few more variety of Characters at the restaurant on different nights, would have tempted me to go back on another day! You can meet Goofy, Pluto, as well as Chip & Dale if you go on the weekend. Catered more towards families with children, I still had fun coming here for a date. Can't get the Character experience back home! A highlight of my trip, and recommend.

The night we went was Seafood Buffet. Food was okay and exceptable. Nothing outstanding but we had a child with us and they had Pluto and Goofy visiting at the table. After a day at the park it was nice to sit in a quiet atmosphere and have a relaxed dinner. For those that do not eat seafood they had chicken and prime rib. Large selection of salads and very good dessert selection.

Wait time was way too long. Even we had a reservation，we still have to wait over half an hour after we checked in.

We had a reservation and most reservations were running 1 hour behind.

Thanksgiving lunch was delicious. A bountiful buffet with selections to please everyone no matter how young or old. Spending the holiday with Disney characters was the way to go. Service was fabulous and had a great experience!

The only complaint was the prime rib had no flavor or the au juice

Wonderful service and food. Disney characters and a very fun ambiance!

Food was not great. Seafood buffet was the menu option of the night. The ceviche was tart and overpowering. Steamed crab legs were luke warm at best. The fried fish basket was cold. The character visits were the only saving grace. Overpriced.

We had a such a beautiful dinner for my daughter birthday. Just amazing food and service. Thank you

Gross. Gross gross.

Disney’s best kept secret. This place is rarely busy so it is quiet and they don’t rush you out to turn the table. Great place if you want to a break from crowds. The seafood buffet (Thurs- Sun evenings) is fantastic and worth the price if you like to endulge. An added plus is that the characters get to spend extra time with the kids because it isn’t crowded. Goofy and Pluto visited our table twice to interact with our baby girl. Great staff and servers make all the difference, too. And the desserts are always very beautiful and tasty. We come here every time we are at Disney!

Wanted a casual seafood dinner for two and was very happy with the selections of food, wine, and atmosphere. Our waiter was outstanding in providing us with an excellent experience.

All you can eat lobster was outstanding. However some of the food on the buffet was cold.

Almost no one there so you would expect service to be great. Waiter was inattentive. They brought food to the table as we were getting food from buffet line so the food got cold while eating what we got off the line. Crabs legs were part of the buffet, some tables got pails to put their shells while we had to juggle the shells on our plate with the food we were eating Waiter saw and did nothing. Would not repeat...even with the character experience.

Great meal, service & ambience. Can't wait to go back!

We had a great time. Big thank you to Pluto and Chip n Dale who made our trip extra special. Food was very good. Excellent staff .We will be back again.

Loved this character dinner from start to finish. Only wish maybe another character or two had come out.

Waiter was on par, but the quality of the food was not very good. The food was over salted and luke warm temperature at best.

Great price for a Disney character dinner. Was not crowded or rushed. Seafood buffet highly recommended.

Everything was outstanding! Christopher, our server, was great!

The waiter and manager went out of their way to make us feel comfortable

Our server was fast and friendly. The food was over salted and the portions were too large for my 15 and 13 year old and very high in price. We did not finish our meals. It was not worth it. Spent a lot of money just to see Minnie Mouse and Chip & Dale, not worth the price. Character dining is very over-rated.

Food was very lackluster for the cost

Great meal with one of the Disney Characters without the craziness of the parks.

Chris was awesome and very accommodating after our long day at the parks. The food is always great and snapping photos with the characters (Goofy & Pluto this trip) is an added bonus!