I can't really call them meltdowns, more like adults descending into behavior more likely attributed to overtired children, but I have had rather interesting experiences the two times I've gone to the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian.
Both times it was me, my best friend, my mom, and her mom. So two twenty-somethings, two women in their fifties. No children.
The Grand Floridian is a bit outside of our comfort zone, we're more counter service and value/moderate than Signature and Deluxe. So it was perhaps a bit of a culture shock, but not an unexpected one. We're all obsessive planners, so the fact that the place is fancy wasn't a huge surprise.
It's also a reality that my friend's mother is not shy about voicing her opinion, and doesn't particularly like being told what to do or not to do.
So the first time we went to tea, we were seated at a lovely large round table with all the settings neatly placed and left with the menus to make our choices. My friend's mother was looking rather confusedly at the tea strainers and asked what they were. My mother, who loves tea and actually collects different strainers, started explaining when my friend interrupted to inform her mom she didn't want her 'asking any questions' of the server. I'm assuming she didn't want us to look as uninformed as we actually were.
Which of course, immediately resulted in her mother waiting until the server came out and immediately putting an exaggerated pout on her face. To which our server, (who turned out to be wonderful and should receive even more praise for putting up with us
) asked, concerned, "What's wrong?"
To which my friend's mother responded, complete with dramatic finger pointing at my friend, "She won't let me talk!"
So now my friend is mortified, her mom is gleeful, my mother and I are amused, and our helpful waiter assures my friend's mom she can certainly ask questions and very graciously explains everything to us.
Now fast forward a couple years.
It's trip two. Which should go flawlessly, right?
Or not.
Same group. Except instead of the nice big round table we had last time, we're seated at two tiny round tables side-by-side at between two wicker loveseats.
Anyone else would have found the seating wonderful and cozy. Not my friend's mom. "The tables are too small to fit everything." (I will admit, it was a tight fit for the food, tea, settings, etc. But still manageable.) So now she's already pouting. And spent the majority of the time complaining about the 'tiny tables.' Our server was one of the softest spoken people I have ever met and we couldn't understand ninety percent of what she said. My friend, who has quite a few food allergies, and is not at all an adventurous eater, had elected to get the children's selection of sandwiches and pastries. Which was absolutely fine. Except at one point I looked over and she had picked the raisins off one of one of the items and lined them up on her plate in a neat row like a line of ants. And then informed me, "I don't like them! I'm not going to eat them!" Which, okay fine, but still doesn't explain the careful placement on the plate?
And then my mother, who I had up until this point carried some hope might keep some sort of decorum, accidentally dropped a piece of her scone on the floor, and began trying to subtly kick it under my chair.
...We haven't been back since.
