Garden Grill solo?

[roselark]

Has anyone done the Garden Grill solo? I will be at F&W the first few days and I love The Plain White T's! I plan to make a ressie for the Eat to the Beat Dining Package and I am thinking about Garden Grill since I have never been there. I have never done a family style dining location solo before though. Thoughts?

 

[Templemom]

I haven't been solo yet, but will be there next Sat Aug the 10th solo. I'll report back how it went. I expect it will be a lot of food but like the fact I don't have to get up to get food at a buffet.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I've been there both solo and with others. In my experience, character meals are better with someone, so you can take each other's picture with the characters. When solo you can ask your server or a nearby guest to take your picture, but this can be awkward. The server may be too busy, and if you're introverted, you may not feel comfortable asking another guest. (If you're more the outgoing type, this would be easier.) Also with Garden Grill seating, you won't even have a view of any nearby guests unless you're seated at one of the booths that has a long table for a big group and a smaller table for one or two. I've had the latter sometimes when solo, and it does make it a little easier to ask the other guests to take your picture. The other seating would be your own booth, which I've also gotten a lot.

 

[jgl130]

I went solo for breakfast over the 4th of July. There was a TON of food, since it’s “family style”. I ended up sharing my cinnamon rolls with the family next to me. I was at a two top next to one of the large tables. I didn’t have any problem with pictures. My waitress was great about it, the family I gave the cinnamon rolls to also offered a couple times, then I did some selfies too.

I’m fairly outgoing so didn’t have an issue. I just felt bad about the amount of food. I’m glad I did it, but wouldn’t do Garden Grill again, only because I didn’t realize it was a rotating restaurant. I tend to get motion sick with rotating (but not drops on rides ) experiences. I was ok this time, but think it was because I made an effort to focus on the table next to me so I couldn’t see the rotation.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

I love Garden Grill lunch! I've eaten there with family and solo, as well.

It is a lot of food for one, but that's just the nature of family style and I look at it as an indulgence. I think I even asked for more gravy and pot roast, without cleaning my plate first!

Photos were not a problem for me,. because I already had photos from the family trip. So I wasn't anxious about it, but as it turned out, I offered to take a pix of the family in the booth next to mine, and they returned the favor anyway.

I was a little concerned about meeting the characters solo. I loved seeing Chip and Dale, and Farmer Mickey is so cute! But I'm not really into that aspect of the meal when solo. The characters made it so easy to interact--I would just wave and blow a kiss, and they would wave as well, and shake/kiss my hand, but not linger. They really set the perfect balance between making me feel welcome and not feeling pressure.

I didn't mind the rotation, but I'm not prone to motion sickness. I love, love love seeing into the farmhouse second floor from the back! It really adds to the Living with the Land ride for me, now.

Now I've talked myself into another solo trip!!!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

The rotation is very slow. I think it takes about 45 minutes to go all the way around. So most people don't seem to have motion sickness issues from this.

 

[ameetee]

For some reason I was under the impression they sit you with other people, which as an introvert, turned me off from going. Is that not the case?

 

[DaisyDuck001]

For some reason I was under the impression they sit you with other people, which as an introvert, turned me off from going. Is that not the case?

It can go one of two ways. Either you get your own booth, or you get an oversized booth with a table for eight and a table for two. Since you have a preference, when you check in you could just ask for your own separate booth.