1900 Park Fare worth it?

[Erikarate]

Hi fellow DIS'ers. We are super excited to be staying at the new Villas at the Grand Floridian this year!!! Wooo Whoooo!!!!

Anyway, for convenience sake, we want to eat more often at at the GF, and probably monorail hotel restaurants etc. Our family has a love/hate thing with buffets. We like the variety, but often the price is hard to justify as we just don't eat much more than one dinner plate full etc (example, for the same price as the buffet we can go upstairs to Citricos and get the filet of beef of course without apps and dessert, but excellent quality). Also we have been sorely disappointed with the quality lately (i.e. Boma has been disappointing the last few times).

Anyway, does anyone have any recent experiences they would like to share about Park Fare? Pics would be appreciated too or any links etc. If people rave about it then perhaps we can justify the cost, approx $180.00 for our family.

Thanks in advance!

 

[keahgirl8]

If you have kids who like Cinderella, it is worth it. I am a solo adult, and since I never had a character meal, and I am a huge Cinderella fan, I tried it. It is very loud and chaotic. The food is pretty good, but it didn't change my life or anything! I am still glad I experienced it once. I not only got my picture taken with Cinderella, but Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drisella, and the prince. For a big Cinderella nerd, that was worth it!

 

[Holly Quinlan]

I personally did not care for the food and didn't think the character interaction was all that great. I also walked out with a killer headache it was so loud I couldn't hear my DH sitting across from me. Its pretty cramped also. I was always afraid I would bump someone when I got up and walked to the buffet

 

[FiggieFan]

It was one of the most disappointing Disney meals we have had. We enjoy several buffets at WDW, but didn't like that one. Also, it depends on where you sit. We were there for one hour and none of the five characters that were rotating around the room made it to any of the tables on our side.

 

[Judique]

I enjoy the breakfast buffet.

I don't go for the characters anymore as we are all adults and have seen them many times, but if they skip my table I'm disappointed .

Guess I'm just a kid at heart!

Last June we had newbies with us - adults - and the characters were not coming and we really didn't mind that much, but our CM waitress noticed and she apologized to us and rounded them up, although we said we were okay with not getting the attention.

I do love watching the kids meet the characters! So, if they skip me to spend more time with a small child, I'm still happy.

The food is okay - I like the smoked salmon and the eggs benedict and maybe a Mickey waffle, so I'm satisfied. That combo may not be okay for everyone - but my family eats the regular stuff and they've never left hungry.

Just a thought - when we had the original dining plan a few times years ago, we became very critical of Disney food. I myself, think it was food overload, as well as a decline in quality. Those were the days when you got an appetizer, entrée, dessert and drink - sometimes even smoothies as the drink. It was way too much food for me and by the end of a week, I didn't even want to go to a restaurant any more. So, the last meals would not get good reviews for sure.

Now, we are selective in making ADR's and we eat smaller meals when we are hungry and we usually enjoy what we eat. I don't plan elaborate sit down meals every day at Disney because that is not how we normally eat and I want to come home lighter from all my walking.

I think some families just get caught up in all the planning. You won't go hungry if you don't plan every meal.

 

[Marthasor]

We ate breakfast there in August and we enjoyed it only because of the characters. It is truly one of the best character meals at WDW. We have never had dinner there, so I can't comment on that. If you are going for the characters, do it. If you are going for the food, DON'T!! Definitely better off at any of the other TS at GF.

 

[tgropp]

We ate their once and enjoyed it. It was quite good actually. Since we were going to MVMCP, we had 4:30 dinner reservations , just when it opens up. They did a little celebration and when they opened the doors to the restaurant, all the characters were standing there. We had great seats/table and all the food was fresh.

 

[GaBelle]

We ate breakfast there in August and we enjoyed it only because of the characters. It is truly one of the best character meals at WDW. We have never had dinner there, so I can't comment on that. If you are going for the characters, do it. If you are going for the food, DON'T!! Definitely better off at any of the other TS at GF.

I agree 100%! I love Mary Poppins and the character interaction was personal and not rushed at all. I thought the food was good...not great. But I'd go back.
If you are looking strictly at food quality, Grand Floridian Cafe would be a much better choice.

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi fellow DIS'ers. We are super excited to be staying at the new Villas at the Grand Floridian this year!!! Wooo Whoooo!!!!

Anyway, for convenience sake, we want to eat more often at at the GF, and probably monorail hotel restaurants etc. Our family has a love/hate thing with buffets. We like the variety, but often the price is hard to justify as we just don't eat much more than one dinner plate full etc (example, for the same price as the buffet we can go upstairs to Citricos and get the filet of beef of course without apps and dessert, but excellent quality). Also we have been sorely disappointed with the quality lately (i.e. Boma has been disappointing the last few times).

Anyway, does anyone have any recent experiences they would like to share about Park Fare? Pics would be appreciated too or any links etc. If people rave about it then perhaps we can justify the cost, approx $180.00 for our family.

Thanks in advance!

We've eaten there a few times (with our last time being December 2010) and although we didn't think the food was all that great, we loved the step sisters and had a great time. If you are going strictly for the food, I'd skip it. If characters/entertainment is a priority, I'd give it a try. With that said, I would go back for the step sisters alone as they were hilarious and the character interaction was great (IMO), but that's just me. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Erikarate]

Just a thought - when we had the original dining plan a few times years ago, we became very critical of Disney food. I myself, think it was food overload, as well as a decline in quality. Those were the days when you got an appetizer, entrée, dessert and drink - sometimes even smoothies as the drink. It was way too much food for me and by the end of a week, I didn't even want to go to a restaurant any more. So, the last meals would not get good reviews for sure.

Now, we are selective in making ADR's and we eat smaller meals when we are hungry and we usually enjoy what we eat. I don't plan elaborate sit down meals every day at Disney because that is not how we normally eat and I want to come home lighter from all my walking.

I think some families just get caught up in all the planning. You won't go hungry if you don't plan every meal.

We do not do the dining plan for that reason. It seems like almost too much food. Also we're DVC so we get a full kitchen and stock up at Publix at the beginning of the trip.

I just like to know what our dining options are at the GF in case we feel like eating out. Sounds like from what I'm hearing Park Fare might not be a good fit for our family.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

We do breakfast when we stay at the GF. It is less and my daughter likes the characters. We have done dinner in the past but I don't want to spend that much anymore for dinner.

 

[georgiesgirl]

I personally did not care for the food and didn't think the character interaction was all that great. I also walked out with a killer headache it was so loud I couldn't hear my DH sitting across from me. Its pretty cramped also. I was always afraid I would bump someone when I got up and walked to the buffet

We will NEVER go back, the variety of food was terrible, Very cramped and loud, and because we were in a small outlet off the main room we never saw the characters interact at all and only saw two stepsisters This party of 8 will not be returning!!!!

 

[MinnieMOH]

We didn't like it for dinner.
We were in the first seating and were seated for an hour and a half (and long since finished with our meals) and had yet to be visited by a single character. When they did finally make their way over, they spent maybe 30 seconds at our table before moving on and came one after the other so after waiting all that time, we were done with everyone within five minutes. Just not what I am used to in regards to character meals.
The food was also pretty awful. Gummy paella, brown lettuce in the salad, etc. They had the worst cut of meat I have ever had at Disney, I don't even remember what it was now, but all seven of us who had taken some left it on our plates. It was just inedible.
They did have a lovely and delicious selection of fresh fruit, and decent soup.
I had heard wonderful reviews so I don't know if it was just an off night or a bad table location or what, but I have no desire to try it again.
On the same trip, we had our usual lunch with Winnie the Pooh and the crystal palace and enjoyed that very much, both the food and the interaction.

 

[MinnieMOH]

Georgiesgirl, we were a large party too, and they stuck us in the corner to the right as soon as you enter. We couldn't see any of the dancing or entrances either. Really disappointing for kids!

 

[PrincessTiggy]

The food is pretty garden variety buffet food. Like what you would get at a work conference. Nothing outstanding. I thought that the character interaction is great. The stepsisters are awesome and Cindy and the prince are great too. I though they spent a reasonable time at each table and my kids loved it. If you are looking for the food to knock your socks off you will be disappointed-gravely so.

 

[mom2cgj]

We are another family who went for dinner and won't go back. The food was absolutely hands-down the worst we had at Disney. Awful! We all left hungry, and when you are paying that much for a meal, that's a big deal. The character interaction was also disappointing. The only one who spent any time at all at our table was Prince Charming. The step sisters and step mother were just going through the motions, and Cinderella seemed too rushed. Definitely everyone's least favorite meal of our whole trip.

 

[hops&dreams]

We thought it was worth it. We've been twice, but our first visit was TOTALLY worth it. DD was 6, it was our first trip in 2010. We were seated around 7? We waited around 30 mins for our table, which I was annoyed at as that's what RESERVATIONS are for, but eh...

Once we got in, it was loud and cramped. But we were seated off of the main dining room, and it was relatively quiet in there. All characters came to greet us - Cinderella (2x!), Prince Charming, both step sisters and Step mom. Character interaction was great - our interaction with Drizella was my favorite of both of our trips! Both step sisters made the best of DD being an only child (she was campaigning pretty hard for a sibling at that time). Drizella played a game in our section "Drizella Says! You know the game Simon Says? It's like that, only classier!" They had to let a family out through our section into the lobby (there was a door at the end of our section that went straight through) because they could not get a handicapped child's wheelchair back through the crowded restaurant. When they opened the door, I guess people in the lobby started staring and pointing, and she said "I know I'm beautiful, but you really shouldn't point. It may make others think you're rude!" in a REALLY loud voice that carried through the lobby. The mom stopped and thanked her for doing that, as it made the child in the wheelchair smile.

DD saw Cinderella and Prince Charming beginning the waltz and rushed up to see. She was chosen to dance with prince charming, and he even kissed her hand at the end - she was in HEAVEN! Cinderella came over afterward and made a "I saw you dancing - he's a wonderful dancer, isn't he?" type of comment to DD. She also thanked her for coming and accepting her invitation (I had made one, and WL made a big deal about delivering it to our room, waiting for an answer. I had mentioned it to our server as DD was away from the table getting food. She must've mentioned it to Cinderella... it was awesome, as DD was TOTALLY into it! 2 years later, when we surprised her with a trip, one of the first things she said was "I wonder if Cinderella will invite me to dinner with her family again.")

As for food, it wasn't any better or worse than any other buffet. Similar food to Hollywood and Vine, I thought.

The first time, they had this wonderful roasted corn chowder. DH couldn't get enough of it. It was our first night, so he was very excited! We never saw that soup again. :-(

The 2nd time, they had this chilled strawberry soup that everyone raved about. I was excited to try it, but it tasted like a melted strawberry smoothie to me :-(

That's my 2¢ anyway.

 

[MrsDuck]

We are in the minority but we disliked 1900PF for both breakfast and dinner - it felt cramped, rushed, and not worth the cost. It was fun seeing the characters, though.

 

[Erikarate]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I assume you meant 1900 PF "dinner" and not breakfast?

Food at dinner was very disappointing. Pretty bad quality food. Step sisters were HILARIOUS thou! So entertaining.

Breakfast was much better, decent food, but not good enough for me to go back. Cape May & Crystal Palace are still way way better.