Tink Tested: 1900 Park Fare Dinner

Location: First floor of the Main Lobby of the Grand Floridian

Parking/Transportation Situation: General Resort Parking (across the street) or Valet Parking available. Bus service from Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. Monorail service from Magic Kingdom, Ticket and Transportation Center, Epcot, The Contemporary and The Polynesian. Boat service from The Magic Kingdom and The Polynesian. (If using Disney Bus Transportation, allow 1-1.5 hours transportation time. For monorail or boat service, allow 30-45 minutes.)

Meals Served: B, D

Characters/Entertainment: Officially called, "Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner", evening meals include table visits from not only the princess herself, but also Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine (The Evil Stepmother), and her daffy daughters, Anastasia and Drizzella.

Type of Cuisine: American with various international items

Type of Menu: Buffet

Pricing/Dining Plan: $$$/ 1 Table Service Point Per Person
Full Menu: 1900 Park Fare Dinner Menu

Atmosphere: A bright and airy carousel themed dining room
Dress Code: Theme park casual

Guests Who Would Enjoy This The Most: Princess lovers who want to avoid, (or couldn't get in to), Cinderella's Royal Table in the Castle, or those that enjoy a unique character experience. (It's rare to see Cindy's sassy step-sisters and step-mother anywhere else.)

Level of Difficulty of Getting a Reservation: Moderate

Fun Stuff for Kids: Truly one of the most entertaining of the character meals. The step-sisters will crack your little ones up with their loud and silly shenanigans. Once every hour or so, the characters are announced to the dining room, with Cinderella and Prince Charming occasionally inviting guests to waltz.  
Rating of Appeal to Kid-Diners: What rides???

Stand out dishes: Strawberry Soup, Carved Roasted Turkey, Mongolian Beef, Key Lime Chicken, Bread Pudding
Best Use of Dining Plan Point: Only one option here... but buffet and all-you-care-to-eat options are always the most bang for your buck on a Dining Plan point. This one is of particular value, since the regular buffet price runs on the high side.

Experience: So this is gonna sound crazy to you, but we decided to do this one without D. I know, right? How could you not take your 6 year old daughter to see Cinderella??? Well two reasons: 1.) She was unable to attend due to a scheduled event, and 2.) D is most definitely getting to that age where she's starting to question things. On a recent Magic Kingdom visit, she noticed that Tiana on the parade float looked different than the Tiana she took pictures with a few weeks before. The hubs and I are SO not ready for the magic to be destroyed for her, so we decided to do 1900 Park Fare without her, since she LOOOOOVES the step-sisters and step-mother, (she's a villains fanatic), and I knew she'd remember them quite vividly from the last time we dined here, back in November. If they happened to be "looking slightly different", I didn't want her to question what we were trying to pull over on her and ruin Disney face-character magic forever. This was excellent news for K, because it meant all of the character attention would be focused on him, so he was totally fine with leaving Sissy behind.
     We managed to book day-of, but only because we were again eating at an "off" time, at only 4:30pm. We checked in to the podium and were directed to have our picture taken in the waiting area, next to a beautiful mural of Cinderella's Castle. We declined the picture, since we wouldn't be buying a picture of the three of us anyway. For those that do stop for the photo, the photographer will come to your table later, with a photo package for you to purchase, if you like your pictures.
     We were quickly sat, and greeted by our server, who took our drink order and said he'd be getting the chef for K's egg allergy. The server also took a moment to explain the way the characters "flow", pointing out which tables they would be at right before us, so that we would not get up at the wrong time and miss a character. Nice touch. The chef came to the table and offered to bring me up to the buffet and show me around. It turned out that again, there were plenty of options for K and the only thing that would really become challenging would be dessert, so she said to let the server know when we were ready for dessert and they'd bring K something special. I heaped a plate for K with pizza, mac and cheese, turkey, veggies, a hot dog and cheese and went back to the table.
     When I returned to the table, Cinderella was just two tables away,

K loves being loved on

so before getting the rest of our food, we got to have our first meet and greet. Cinderella kissed K's hand and sweetly cooed at him, which, of course, he ate up. But because he's MY kid, as soon as she walked away, he became deeply engaged in his plate again.
     I sent the hubs up for his plate, and then when he returned, I went up for me. The offerings were certainly varied and multiple types of foods were represented, including sushi, pasta, stir-fry, salad and carved meats. On a pouty note, I will say I was very disappointed that the one item I had last time that I was really looking forward to was not present and that was the pot stickers. Last time we had been at 1900, they had the same potstickers that 'Ohana serves, (the delicious ones that I am obsessed with), on the buffet, but not this time. Items rotate on a daily and weekly basis, so you never know for sure what you'll get. The kids buffet pretty much always features pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac and cheese and pasta with meatballs. A very important note at this restaurant, unlike many of Disney's other buffets, the two sides are NOT mirrored and each features different items, so you want to walk to whole buffet. There's a kid's section on each of the far ends of the buffet, each with different items. There was a section of the buffet that was all salad bar mix-ins, and one that was all sushi rolls. There were a couple of shrimp dishes, and salmon. The stir-fry section had Udon noodles, Mongolian Beef and green beans. The carving station had Jerk Seasoned Turkey Breast, and carved sirloin. There was also Key Lime Gingered Chicken, Fried Catfish, Mojo Pork Loin and Chicken and Seafood Paella. Side items included mashed potatoes, succotash, a few soups and veggies.

Sushi bar

 

Kid's Selections



Dessert Table

     My favorite items were the Mongolian Beef and the Chilled Strawberry Soup, a Grand Floridian classic, which tastes more like a smooth, whipped dessert than it does like a soup. The kid's pizza was pretty tasty too. The hubby, as per the norm, liked the kid's items the best and tuckered into some chicken strips and pizza. He did try the carved turkey, but said that the jerk seasoning was not really up his alley. He likes sushi a lot, so he enjoyed the freshly made rolls.
     As we ate, those crazy step-sisters came to visit our table. They put on some pretty hysterical antics, fighting over K's attention, and proposed hand in marriage. Each of them spent plenty of time with him, Anastasia asking him if he's rich and can support her, (to which K replied, "Yeah."), and Drizella kissing his forehead and leaving lipstick evidence behind. Lady Tremaine greeted each table like the rock-star of Disney villains that she is, announcing, "Yes, I am here now. You may stand." She somehow masters the stern face that kids find hysterical and non-threatening, despite her attempts to be.

Anastasia asking K if he's rich.

     When it was time for dessert, we alerted the chef, and out came a whole dessert just for my little guy, with ice cream, egg-free cookies, gummy worms and Mickey sprinkles. While he was districted by sugary-goodness, I got my husband and I a plate of the mini-dessert samplings. There were mini-carrot cakes, cannoli, Key Lime tarts, fruit tarts, chocolate mousse cups, brownies, cookies and more. The little chocolate cups filled with chocolate mousse were rich and delicious. The hubs liked the carrot cakes and the cannoli. Of course, neither of us were nearly as into dessert as Mr. K was with his "gummy 'urms". In fact, when Prince Charming made his way to our table, K barely took a moment to take a picture with him. Though I did see K checking out Prince Charming's threads while he was greeting another table nearby. He looked perplexed. Almost as though in his head, he was saying, "Wait a sec, there are PRINCE costumes? This is an option? Why do you people only give me dresses to put on when I'm playing dress up at home? What the....?"
     Overall, I walked away feeling like regardless of the "good" food, (at best), the character experience was worth going there. We got super cute pictures of K with the ladies, and made some great memories. The food was decent, fresh, varied and obviously plentiful, but I truly feel like the reason to go to 1900 Park Fare for dinner is the characters themselves. They are fabulous! Plus, if you can do it on the Dining Plan, it's totally worth the point.

Tink's Tots Try It Out: According to K (2 yo boy)  K, did you have fun eating with Cinderella?   "Ella eat. Eat pizza. Eat gummy 'urms."   Weren't her step-sisters funny?   "K funny."   True. I'm not denying that. I think Anastasia and Drizella liked you a lot.   "Yeah."   (I think in his head he said, 'No biggie. All the ladies like me.') What did you think of Prince Charming's outfit? Did you like that?   "Yeah. Pince 'fit, pease, Mamma?" ("Prince outfit, please, Mamma?")  You know what a sucker you have for a mother. Yeah, yeah... we'll get you a Prince outfit. 

Will we be back: We probably will be back at some point, but only if D specifically asks for it. Otherwise, I'd rather either see Anastasia, Drizella and Lady Tremaine in the parks and spend the money on a meal that we enjoy more.