1900 Park Fare -no stepsisters :(

[berk]

Hi all,

New to the boards, and just completed our second trip to WDW. Our DD5 was really into meeting characters this time around, so based on the info here we booked at 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Unfortunately, we hit one of the nights where the sisters WEREN'T there - we got Prince Charming, Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, and Suzy. Sadly, of those four, two or three were basically phoning in their performances, and it was an all around "meh" experence - food was average, characters weren't that good, wait was surprisingly long (with ADR made 6 months ago, and checking in 20 minutes prior to our reservation time).

I fully understand that there are no guarantees with character dining, but I think in this case, where the sisters are 99% of why you would go there, it is probably best to avoid this one if you're looking for character interaction, and instead do Akershus for lunch one day, and see Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters in Fantasyland (we did both, so we got plenty of good interactions, sisters included).

Hopefully this isn't too negative, we had a wonderful trip otherwise, but searches for 1900 Park Fare bring up tons of great recommendations based on the sisters alone, and I wanted to save this cautionary note for posterity's sake.

 

[DCDisney]

Sorry you had a disappointing meal. I guess one of the Sister's was sick and you got some unfortunate subs. 1900 runs behind all the time so we only go for the 4:45 ADRs now. We had a meal where one of the normal Princesses was out at Akershus and we got Pochohontas instead which we liked since we hadn't met her before.

 

[berk]

Cool on Pocahontas! We actually got to see her, Jiminy Cricket, and Rafiki @ Planet Watch. It was a very pleasant surprise, to say the least.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

20 minutes is a remarkedly short wait from our view.
We've never had only 20 minutes.

 

[berk]

20 minutes is a remarkedly short wait from our view.
We've never had only 20 minutes.

I didn't say we waited 20 minutes, I said we checked in 20 minutes early (6:10 for a 6:30 ADR). We got seated around 7, so total wait time from check in to seating was closer to 50 minutes.

 

[disneymayz]

I didn't say we waited 20 minutes, I said we checked in 20 minutes early (6:10 for a 6:30 ADR). We got seated around 7, so total wait time from check in to seating was closer to 50 minutes.

Your wait was 30 minutes. You choose to get there and wait the first 20 minutes so you can not hold that against Disney.

Did you have the Strawberry soup? It is so goood! Just hope that this is not the first thing you think of when you think of your trip. I tend to let things go fast so I can enjoy and have awesome memories of my trips.

 

[twooley2]

This experience happened to us at breakfast too when we were looking forward to the madd hatter and no madd hatter. My teens and niece and nephew were so disappointed. thats 8 kids total that will remember the lack of characters at that meal. I am not sure how one can know but take a chance if you want.

 

[twooley2]

Hi all,

New to the boards, and just completed our second trip to WDW. Our DD5 was really into meeting characters this time around, so based on the info here we booked at 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Unfortunately, we hit one of the nights where the sisters WEREN'T there - we got Prince Charming, Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, and Suzy. Sadly, of those four, two or three were basically phoning in their performances, and it was an all around "meh" experence - food was average, characters weren't that good, wait was surprisingly long (with ADR made 6 months ago, and checking in 20 minutes prior to our reservation time).

I fully understand that there are no guarantees with character dining, but I think in this case, where the sisters are 99% of why you would go there, it is probably best to avoid this one if you're looking for character interaction, and instead do Akershus for lunch one day, and see Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters in Fantasyland (we did both, so we got plenty of good interactions, sisters included).

Hopefully this isn't too negative, we had a wonderful trip otherwise, but searches for 1900 Park Fare bring up tons of great recommendations based on the sisters alone, and I wanted to save this cautionary note for posterity's sake.

what do you mean by phoning in their performances?

 

[bluejasmine]

Too bad! Unfortuntely ADR are not guaranteed to be on time, in 2008 on our honeymoon we waited almost 2 hrs past our ADR time at SA, we also always make our ADR at 180 days..

If i made reservations for certain characters that werent there I would be dissapointed as well, I dont think they always know in advance who will be there tho..

None of the places Ive been with character meals had very exciting food, but normally the characters make up for it..

1900 PF is one on my to do list..

 

[waffles77]

Who in the world is Suzy?

 

[GingerJay]

Who in the world is Suzy?

She's one of Cinderella's mice.

 

[lovebug33]

The mice have names? I have never known that! What are the other mice's names?

 

[Mamu]

The mice have names? I have never known that! What are the other mice's names?

Octavius-Gus
Jaque
Suzy
Perla

Movie #2 Mary

 

[mousefan1972]

OP, I don't blame you for being disappointed. IMO, the stepsisters are the main reason to visit 1900 Park Fare. Certainly not for the food! They were an absolute riot at our last visit in December. Anastasia proposed marriage to my 5 year old son. The character interaction made the high price worth it. I would have been very bummed out, too.

 

[gigi1313]

Your wait was 30 minutes. You choose to get there and wait the first 20 minutes so you can not hold that against Disney.

Did you have the Strawberry soup? It is so goood! Just hope that this is not the first thing you think of when you think of your trip. I tend to let things go fast so I can enjoy and have awesome memories of my trips.

actually, they got there 5 minutes early because when you call to make ADRs one line of the "spiel" is to be there 15 minutes prior to ADR time... or at least it used to be!
(i just looked and it is not one of the general policies on the online reservation site)

 

[MickeyEars]

My goodness, we have dinner reservations for our first night (June 2) and I sure hope the sisters are there. We haven't been to 1900 Park Fare in years and we haven't seen the sisters "in action" so I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

Carla

 

[berk]

Ok, the wait wasn't 50

We got a little spoiled earlier in the trip, as we were good about checking in 15 min early, and they typically got us in at or slightly before our ADR time. It just added to the overall disappointment.

The point of the original post is to just serve as a reminder that the sisters are really all this place has going for it (in my opinion). If the food, service, or other characters were above average, it may have pushed it into the worthwhile category, but in my experience, they're not, and it's just not worth the risk. Your mileage may vary.

 

[aubriee]

Sorry you had a disappointing meal. I guess one of the Sister's was sick and you got some unfortunate subs. 1900 runs behind all the time so we only go for the 4:45 ADRs now. We had a meal where one of the normal Princesses was out at Akershus and we got Pochohontas instead which we liked since we hadn't met her before.

At least you got a substitute. When we had breakfast at 'Ohana a few years ago, Lilo was sick and they didn't have a substitute. The only characters we had that morning were Mickey, Pluto, and Stitch.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I would be disappointed if the stepsisters were not there. Glad you saw them in the parks. They are fun! But we had a LOT more fun with them in the park than we did at 1900 Park Fare. At 1900PF, it was more rushed....and not as much room to interact. They carried on and on with us at the Halloween Party! I always tell them how much we love them and that "Cinderella is such a bore!" Here's a pic from the party in 2009. They were going on and on because DS said he didn't want to be a pirate for Halloween... so repeatedly they whined very loudly, "I don't want to be a pirate"!!!

 

[tony609]

what do you mean by phoning in their performances?

Phoning in a performance means that the person playing the role was there physically BUT not no really their mentally or "in the moment" as my college acting coach would say. They did what they HAD to do and showed up, but they didn't "play the part to their fullest ability" or to the corwds expectations. Face character, especially ones like the step sisters NEED to be ON at all times. We have ALWAYS had great interations witht he sisters. We are doing 1900 our fiorst night in Sept. I will keep tabs and see if they are regularly their anymore or not. If they are not there no reason to go to 1900 for Dinner.