CRT and 1900 Park Fare?

[rmjkharrisfam]

Would you do both? Why? Why not?

We are hitting the world for 10 days in May. DD3 & DD7 will love both....DS9 not so much. I currently have resides both both (dinner). They are 4 days apart so it wouldn't be constant princesses.

Thoughts?

 

[PamelaKay]

Love the stepsisters at Park Fare and they were not at CRT when I ate there.

Does your DS9 have somewhere he prefers?

 

[kmb584]

If I had to choose, I'd go with 1900 Park Fare. The step sisters are hilarious and I enjoy the variety of food. Two princess meals over the span of a 10 day trip isn't, in my opinion, a princess overload.

Agreed with the PP, does DS have a favorite restaurant? If so, make a ressie there for him. If not, maybe try pulling up menus online of on property restaurants and let him choose where he'd like to have lunch/dinner.

 

[disneybliss2]

The character experience and food is different at both, so I wouldn't bother me to do both. If you're concerned about your son's dislike of doing both, maybe you could choose a special meal for him? If you want to narrow down the options of the two you have, I would definitely go with 1900 PF. We love the food there, and the character interaction is the absolute best! The stepsisters are a riot! I think even your son would get a kick out of them! While we liked CRT, we didn't like it well enough to warrant the extra expense or 2 TS credits.

 

[martinolichfamily]

We've done both in same trip. Both are fun and good food...buffet is at 1900 PF and not at CRT. I would say keep both!
My DS had no problem doing both...he was same age.

 

[creativeamanda]

I personally found 1900 PF to be overrated. The food was not great and the characters ignored our table.

 

[sabmom]

We did both on our recent trip. I preferred 1900 Park Fare which we did for dinner. The food was so much better and I liked the buffet option as we could get what we wanted and my daughter could have some healthier choices. The characters were great fun and we had a good interaction with all of them. Also, Prince Charming and Cinderella danced which was fun. Finally, I felt much less rushed and able to sit back and enjoy the meal.

CRT was also fun - my daughter has great memories of eating in the castle. We did breakfast there though and my negative comments are:

(1) Service extremely rushed - our server was trying to get orders from me as I was juggling with getting my daughter seated, my son's clip-on chair attached to the table and him in it. My husband dashed off to use the washroom and my hands were full. She was very annoyed when I asked her to give me a minute and come back.
(2) Princess interactions were more rushed than at 1900 Park Fare. Also, a few princesses put up big attitude when I asked them to move so that the light coming through the windows didn't completely ruin my photos
(3) Food was absolutely awful. I ate fruit and pastries as did my hubbie. I had the more traditional breakfast option and it was inedible. My husband had the french toast type meal and it was also bad. My daughter's food seemed okay for her.
(4) The photo with Cinderella before you go up was also very rushed and not a good interaction at all. I don't think Cinderella even spoke to my daughter. I felt like it was an assembly line over an experience.

However, it is the CASTLE and you get to see more princesses which my daughter certainly preferred to all of the secondary characters from Cinderella that you see at 1900 PF. Also, photo of my daughter in front of the castle without anyone else in it (early ADR) is priceless.

Also worth noting is that the food at CRT at dinner might me better than it was at breakfast.

Wow - that is a LONG post. Sorry. Must be feeling wordy tonight.

ETA: Back to the original question in your post (duh?). If you have the means, I'd do both on a 10 day trip. If she is princess-crazy, I'd do CRT. If she is just generally into princesses and you are looking for a nicer, relaxing meal, I'd do 1900 PF. Also, I think a boy might like 1900 PF more as the stepmother and the step-sisters are quite entertaining and would probably include him in the fun.

 

[mickeye]

Whatever you do, don't go to Akershush in EPCOT thinking that your son will enjoy the Vikings there, as there are none. I know a family who went there thinking it would be good for both the girls (Princesses) and the boys (Vikings), but there are no Vikings to be found anywhere, except for the statue outside. The boys were very put out.

 

[gabzee]

I would not hesitate to go to both. They are both different experiences, characters, and food. However, if you want if to be completely different, I would suggest trying to get a reservation for 1900 Park for breakfast (they have Tigger, Pooh, Mad Hatter, Alice, and Mary Poppins) and then keep CRT for dinner. Just a thought!

 

[Nalshersmom]

We have ADRs for both in September. I think they will be 2 great experiences. I also have 4 and 6 year old girls who love princesses, though. We also have balanced it out with T-Rex, Ohana's, and Tusker House for my son and husband.

 

[whitney37354]

We did every character meal except Cape May on our trip. I'd have no problem doing both CRT & 1900 PF in one trip. They were totally different experiences for us & both were good.

CRT-loved getting family pictures in front of the castle with no one else there, our character interaction was good (especially Belle & Ariel), food was good, wishing ceremony was sweet

190 PF- character interaction was good, DD danced with Prince Charming, Cinderella, & step-sisters. I don't even remember the food, so it must have just been okay.

 

[gtpoohbear]

I love both, and would have a hard time giving up either. Personally, I think the character interaction is better at 1900PF, but the atmosphere at CRT is so special.

Agree with PP, let DS pick a couple of special things he wants to do -it's all about compromise! It's not unreasonable to expect one sibling to "suffer through" a couple of things that the others will really enjoy, as long as they have their say about something else.

 

[rmjkharrisfam]

Thanks for all of the comments! I do have a couple of things planned for my son - T-Rex & Disneyquest. We're also going to the Hoop de do review which I know he'll love. I think I'll keep both - I've wanted to see the stepsisters, I've heard they are hilarious!

 

[tink65]

We've done both restaurants for breakfast and dinner. For dinner I think CRT is better. We did 1900 Park Fare for dinner last year and it was one of the worst meals of our trip.....We celebrated our daughter's 17th birthday there. I ordered a specialty cake from the bakery at the Grand Floridian too. They didn't even sing Happy Birthday when the cake was presented......... Breakfast on the other hand is our favorite breakfast buffet at Disney. The breakfast at CRT was just ok....neither really good nor really bad. Dinner was much better at CRT than 1900!