1900 Park Fair--Should I cancel???

[*love*2*shop]

WE WENT FOR DINNER..2a,2c......It was a VERY LOUD experience so if that doesnt bother you i would go...we saw at our dinner for CHARACTERS : prince charming/ cinderella and the wicked step sisters along with the wicked step mother..we had a fine meal and would DEF go again... i doubt though even as a HUGE disney fan, that I would pick this RST if it was just Hubby & I though ....def more for GIRLS then Boys also...ps we were on the dining plan..dinner was well over $120.00 + for all 4 of us

 

[CarolinesMom]

1900 Park Faire is my family's favorite princess dining experience. We have done the castle and Norway, but the interaction and experience of 1900 Park Faire is above and beyond better. At least that has been our experience.

***Maybe I should add that I like Medium Rare to Rare beef (as any chef will tell you it is the proper temp. to have it prepared).

(The blood running all over my plate from the way undercooked Prime Rib still makes me sick.) *shudder*

 

[*love*2*shop]

I am wondering about my ADR's at Park Fare...I have one for Christmas Eve Dinner, and one for Christmas morning breakfast!!
opinions anyone???

another note...I too wouldn't go BAck to back..at dinner then again at breakfast..I would try to pick something else, not 2 times at the same RST...

 

[december]

I understand going twice to 1900-the characters are different so a totally different experience. We are doing 'Ohana breakfast (Lilo and Stitch) and dinner (coconut races, etc.), and originally had them back to back. My flight times changed and I had to reschedule my breakfast from my last day to my first full day, so now they are spread out a bit (dinner is on our last night).

I am looking forward to our 1900 dinner adr on Friday before MVMCP. I'll post a review when I get back after Thanksgiving. Maybe they just needed some time to work out the kinks in the new menu.

 

[december]

Is it still Cinderella at dinner?

Yes-dinner is Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the stepmother and stepsisters.

Breakfast is Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We also have Xmas Eve dinner booked here. I've been trying to change it to something else (Boma, Kona, etc.) but have had no luck for a party of 5.

 

[FSUGrad97]

We went on Saturday (Nov. 10th) for breakfast to celebrate my oldest daughter's birthday, and it was fine.

Everything was great, IMO - food, character interaction, service.
I wish I had the bread pudding recipe!

 

[GrandBob]

The blood running all over my plate from the way undercooked Prime Rib still makes me sick.

Wow, a buffet restaurant that actually does prime rib nicely rare? And at Disney, no less?

I usually bypass prime rib buffets, because they always overcook it. I'll have to try it here. I was a little nervous about our ADR here for next April, due to all the negative reviews. But I'm starting to look forward to it!

Sorry, I'm not trying to make fun of you, JayP. You should be able to get food cooked however you like. But I assume there was a carver at the prime rib? Did you ask for one of the end pieces? They're usually much more well done.

 

[Malibelle]

We will be at here for the first time for CHristmas eve dinner too. My husband is a pickey eater and I worry about the food. We are eating at so many other great places I think it will be ok but we don't find this at the top of our list. It can't be that bad. I am looking forward to the characters.

 

[december]

I'll stay away from the prime rib! I like my meat done, thank you very much! I usually volunteer for any burned pieces-nothing like that charred flavor

 

[Rustysmom]

Yeah, my DH couldn't eat the prime rib that was so rare. It was much better at Boma. Everything was much better at Boma. Too bad Boma doesn't have Cinderella because we thought the food at 1900 PF was awful.

 

[esk]

I must be in the minority, because we ate at Boma and thought it was awful...not only the variety, but the taste of what was on the buffet. Haven't tried 1900 PF yet (have ADR for 10th of Dec!!) but looking forward to it.

I'm not to picky about the food, particularly buffets, because I can always find something to eat, but Boma was just terrible for both me and DH.

 

[december]

I promised to post a review when I got back, so here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1645279

We LOVED this place! It was our favorite meal of the week. I tried something from every station, and liked everything. Desserts choices were great-the kids loved fixing their own ice cream cones. ds10 wanted the prime rib and I told him to ask for a well done piece-it was perfect! This will be a must do for us-the steps were hilarious!

 

[momof3poohlovers]

We just got back from DW tonight and this post caught my eye! It's funny, 1900 Park Fare has always been one of our favorite restaurants and we have eaten there many times including Thanksgiving 2005 and so when I made and got a reservation for Thanksgiving this year I was very excited. I hate to say it but it was not what it used to be. It started off on a bad note when I went to check in for our 3pm ressie and I was informed that our reservation was cancelled! I about had a heart attack but luckily I had my reservation number with me and we were early so the manager looked up the history and said for some reason the person who made the reservation cancelled it right after. I have no idea why but luckily the manager said it wasn't a problem and we were put back in. This was Thanksgiving day so thank goodness we were the first dinner seating (it opened for dinner at 3pm) or I am not sure we would have been able to been added in. I have to say, this was not their fault and they were very nice about it. The only problem was that we were seated in the very back corner on your right where you enter. I'm assuming this was the only table available because of the cancelled ressie so we were stuck with it. We literally could not get out from the table to go to the buffet without everyone on one side of our table getting up out of their seats and pushing in their chairs so the others could squeeze by. The tables were ridiculously close together. Another problem we had was the service, it took 15 min. for the waitress to get our drink order before we could get our food and then we didn't get our drinks until we were already done with our dinner and already eating our dessert. I have no idea what the problem was. The waitress said that it was because so many tables were seated at the same time but we were the third table seated and the last in the restaurant to get our drinks. Even the food wasn't as good as our previous visits, the prime rib was excellent but everything else was only ok. Now in fairness, I am not sure how much of our experience was ruined (table location, etc) by the cancellation but I honestly don't know if we will ever go back there. I have to say though the character interaction was excellent, the step-sisters were exceptionally entertaining. If your main interest is the character interaction, then I say go for it, if you are looking to eat a good meal with good service, I would find another restaurant.

 

[bairdbeth]

We had dinner there on 11/17. The food was good and hot. The character interaction was great. The step sisters are hilarious! We would definetly eat here again!

 

[maggs]

I must be in the minority, because we ate at Boma and thought it was awful...not only the variety, but the taste of what was on the buffet. Haven't tried 1900 PF yet (have ADR for 10th of Dec!!) but looking forward to it.

I'm not to picky about the food, particularly buffets, because I can always find something to eat, but Boma was just terrible for both me and DH.

Ditto! We tried Boma twice and both times in 04 and 06 the food was horrible. The beef was a mass of fat - yuck. I would like to try the 1900 dinner too as the breakfast is the best!

Maggs

 

[hddanis]

I must be in the minority, because we ate at Boma and thought it was awful...not only the variety, but the taste of what was on the buffet. Haven't tried 1900 PF yet (have ADR for 10th of Dec!!) but looking forward to it.

I'm not to picky about the food, particularly buffets, because I can always find something to eat, but Boma was just terrible for both me and DH.

We didn't care for Boma at all! The food wasn't so great, and we had issues with our server. I was going to try breakfast this trip and as soon as my kids saw it on my list they asked me to cross it off. They'd rather eat Pop-tarts! (although I'm thinking a quick breakfast at the food court instead)

We LOVED 1900 Park Fare. We had dinner there on our last trip. I have ADRs for dinner our last night and am tring to decide whether or not to add in a breakfast as well (I'd have to get rid of Chef Mickey's or Kona Cafe though)....

I also love my prime rib medium rare..It was perfect at 1900

 

[NIkita]

We just got back from WDW and ate at 1900 Park Faire on Nov. 18. There were 13 in our party. To start, I found the staff great. We were 30 minutes late thanks to transportation fiascos, including a monorail breakdown. They accomodated our lateness without a problem. Our waiter (Ray?) was fantastic. Got our drinks quickly. Brought out clean plates. I ordered a birthday cake for my mom. That was delivered when I requested. The character interaction was fantastic. We had Cinderella, the Prince, two stepsisters and one mouse (what is her name??) stop by numerous times and all were more than willing to wait for cameras. The food, however, was just O.K. Nothing spectacular, but not horrible either. I did not think the buffet was the large in comparison to other WDW buffets (e.g., Boma or Chef Mickeys). Would I go back, I am not sure. For the character interaction, yes. If I was all about fantastic food, no. However, if you want to see Cinderella and can't get into the Castle I think it is a great alternative.

Nikita

P.S. We ate at Boma in 2005 and did not go back this time because I was the only adult in the group who liked it!

 

[DisneyKidds]

Just returned from WDW and we ate at 1900 Park Fare several times last week. Once for dinner and a couple of times for breakfast. Before the rehab Park Fare was one of our favorite buffets...........and after last week it continues to be so. Yes, the place is a little loud, but that is just part of the overall atmosphere, which we like. The character interaction is great, the step sisters are a lot of fun at dinner, service is decent and the layout of the new buffet line is better than before.

But the key here is the food. Now, let me state that we are talking about a buffet here, not sit down, cooked to order fine dining. So an occasional food item off the buffet might come off over/under cooked to your liking, but on the whole at Park Fare the food is very good, kept fresh, and has the best selection of any buffet at WDW we have been to, and we've been to most of them.

So, on to a more deatiled review of that food............which does include the strawberry soup at both breakfast and dinner!

Breakfast still has Pooh, Tigger, Alice, Mary and Mad Hatter. The revamped buffet is an improvement over what was an excellent one to begin with. In addition to the standard buffet fare of fruits, danishes, eggs, bacon, waffles, pancakes, french toast, oatmeals, etc., etc., the buffet includes an omlette station (as before) where you can get eggs or an omlette cooked to order. There is a carving station that has wonderful ham (we never got a dry piece) as well as a new addition...fresh carved smoked applewood bacon. Over by the carving station they have a wonderful bread pudding, with requisite vanilla sauce. There is a wonderful sausage on the buffet that I never did find out what it was, but it's no Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. Much better, thick with a wonderful flavor. Over on that side of the buffet there is also smoked salmon and accoutraments to go with. There are a number of flavored cream cheeses and spreads. Don't forget the strawberry soup!! Over on the other side of the buffet there are some repeats, but also a new lobster eggs benedict that is wonderful. Mind you, poched eggs under a heat lamp can get cooked more, so your egg might not always be perfectly poached, but the flavors are wonderful, with the egg served over some sort of grits. Those be the highlights, keeping in mind that the kids buffets on either side are different and offer the likes of breakfast pizza, bacon, waffles, pancakes and the usual fare. Always a hit with the kids, the soft serve ice cream machine and topping are a great last stop. Try a little strawberry soup over your soft serve vanilla for good measure.

Dinner seatings start at 4:30, with Cindarella, Charming, along with step mom and the step sisters, who are an awful lot of fun. Great interaction. Again here, the revamped buffet is an improvement over the old. The stations are laid out by country. France, Italy, so on and so forth. You can find a salad station that has garden salad with dressings and a pretty good caesar, some fruits, etc. Don't forget the strawberry soup! Among choices on the left side of the buffet you have a freah made past choice (which I didn't get around to sampling), a good chicken marsala, I think a baked ziti with chicken type dish that I'm drawing a blank on, a wondful cold seafood salad with extremely fresh fish, a very good tomato and mozzarella salad, and a selection of fresh cheeses (a good blue, a hard goat, and good aged swiss). Center of the buffet is the carving station with prime rib and a pork roast. Juiciest pork I've ever had, and that's a lot from a buffet. The prime rib was cooked great for us. There was a rare piece and also some meduim to be found close to the end cut. Don't forget the horseradish sauce. Over on the other side of the buffet you had a fresh beef stir fry. To be honest, the beef was a little dry, but the sauce was good. Also on this side was a very good Coq au Vin. The chicken was cooked through but moist, and the sauce was very good. Paella was also found over here and was a decent as you could expect off a buffet. On this side you could find a very good cream of asparagus soup, along with a bouillabase. The broth here was a little bland, but the seafood was very good. The kids buffets had the usual fare, pasta, baked chicken, pizza, etc. The desserts were very good, with a variety of pastries, tarts, chocolate mouse in a chocolate cup, and cookies, along with the aforementioned soft served ice cream and toppings.

Can you get an off item or a bad day at Park Fare? Sure, something might no be cooked to your liking. But the same can be said of just about any buffet. Can you get a slow server? Sure, but same holds there. But on the whole we find Park Fare to have well above average choice, and above average quality for a buffet meal. Combined with the pleasant atmosphere and great character interaction we rate this buffet on of the tops in WDW.

I guess that is the loooong way of saying 'Don't cancel your reservations'! .

 

[PatsMom]

We ate there about two weeks ago and found it to be just OK. The characters were wonderful and we'd go again for that alone. The salads were good, which didn't help DD and DH who aren't salad eaters. DD did like the strawberry soup. They had bouillabaise the night we were there and it was a bit on the salty side but good overall. The chicken marsala was decent. The paella was OK for a buffet. Our major problem was the opposite of what people are reporting here - the beef was so overcooked it was inedible. And we asked twice for the rarest pieces they had. I didn't try the pork but DH said it was dry and inedible as well. He's not a big chicken or seafood eater so having the two carved meats be awful really downgraded the meal in his opinion. I was happy just eating the chicken marsala and the paella.

All in all, not ever going to be our favorite buffet. But I certainly wouldn't cancel a reservation for Christmas Eve. The characters alone along with the dishes that were good justify the cost.