Akershus or 1900 Park Fare for GRANDPARENTS involved. :)

[vester]

Hi there!

My parents are coming with us for part of our trip - we dont think we are going to be able to get them the CRT ressies like we already have (they decided last minute to come for part of the time..... dont they know that they have to do this all in advance? haha!)

Anyway - I have some options with 1900 park fare, and akershus. My mom LOVES Cinderella, when she was growing up in Poland its one of the only things she knew about Disney or anything, so which one would be better?

Which princesses are at Akershus? Is 1900 better for food? etc.

give me the full scoop. We have a 3 1/2 year old daughter, but she wont care, either way, since she will have already been to CRT....this is just a bonus

Vester

 

[Tarzan&Cinderella]

I love love love 1900 park fare! I've eaten there for years now. The food is great. They have awesome adult and kid items. The character interaction is very well done too. They actually stay at your table and take time to talk to you and take pictures. The stepsisters are hilarious. The photo is expensive, but the pictures come out really nicely.

 

[jdisnut]

Are you considering breakfast or dinner, because the characters at 1900 Park Fare vary by the meal. I believe Cinderella is only present in the evening. I don't recall ever seeing Cinderella at Akershus.

So if meeting Cinderella is important with your mother, definitely go with 1900 Park Fare! When I was there several years ago, Prince Charming, the stepsisters and the stepmother were all in attendance. I have read reports of the Fairy Godmother as well, but I don't think she was available during my meal.

At Akershus, the regulars include Jasmine, Belle, Snow White and Aurora, among others.

I actually like 1900 Park Fare. The food is fairly standard, but it's fresh and tasty. You definitely won't leave hungry or disappointed.

 

[Girly_Qs]

Breakfast: Akershus. As 1900PF is not princess. Also, IMO, breakfast food is FAR preferable to lunch/dinner at Akershus. But, there are a LOT of princesses there and they take a good amount of time (at least they did for us).

But . . . if it's dinner . . . DEFINITELY 1900PF IMO. We went with my parents and my girls and we ALL thought it was the best meal of the entire trip. The food was great (we all loved it), and the characters were fantastic. Lady Tremaine (go ahead - call her the wicked stepmother!) was hands-down the best face character I've ever encountered in WDW - she *was* Lady Tremaine. The stepsisters (Anastasia and Drizella) were a RIOT. Cinderella was . . . well, Cinderella! The ultimate princess! And my dd#1 even got to dance with Prince Charming!

 

[vester]

It is going to definitely be for dinner - thanks for all the advice everyone! What do they *do* at 1900 park fare dinner - just walk around? I"m confused - is it just like a regular character dinner?

 

[Tommys Mommy]

I'm giving another vote for 1900 PF!! We have done both of your choices for dinner & we all preferred 1900 PF. Somehow, it seems more lively and there is definitely a bigger variety of food choices there.

 

[squirrel]

1900 Park Fare has the characters come around to the tables. When I went in 2008, Cinderella and Prince Charming came out together and did a dance before the characters went around to the tables.

Akershus-Breakfast was good. Belle was there for photos (included in price) and then we were shown our table. Other princesses came around to our table. Cinderella was there the morning we ate in October 2009.

 

[Girly_Qs]

It is going to definitely be for dinner - thanks for all the advice everyone! What do they *do* at 1900 park fare dinner - just walk around? I"m confused - is it just like a regular character dinner?

Well, part of the premise is that you're at Cinderella's wedding ball (a 'reception' of sorts). When we went, they introduced each of the characters 1 by 1 and they made their 'entrance.' Lady Tremaine looks a bit intimidating, but not too scary for the little ones (my younger dd was 2yo and it didn't scare her at all - but she did sit up straighter in her seat when she made it to us, lol). My girls have a picture with her with their arms crossed in front of them, looking quite disapproving (which is *really* funny from the then-2yo!). The stepsisters rotated somewhat together (no more than 1-2 tables apart) and kept up a constant banter/bickering. They are VERY funny and my girls loved them. Cinderella took plenty of time, talked to the girls, signed their autograph books, took pictures, etc. And they also had a 'dance' somewhere in there (don't recall exactly, but the announced it and music played) and that's when my older dd danced with Prince Charming!

Don't get me wrong, Akershus is a great place to see LOTS of princesses. The pictures with Belle were very nice, and all of the princesses took a nice amount of time with us. We did get to see Cinderella at our dinner there (thankfully the same one who'd been at 1900PF the night before, and she recognized my girls, so they felt special, and like they'd really met the one and only Cinderella - whew!), but apparently it's just luck of the draw on whether you catch Cinderella there or not. Add to that the fact that we really disliked the food at Akershus, and my vote is with 1900PF!

All that said - we will be going back to Akershus this next trip, but for *breakfast* this time! Plus, we're also doing 1900PF dinner again, and lunch at CRT. I figure I'm going to 'ride' my girls' love of princesses for as long as it lasts!

 

[Swimalie]

I haven't done 1900 yet but we did Akershus 3 weeks ago (wow, has it been 3 weeks already?!) and we had Cinderella as well as the others. She was great. She came by after Snow White had planted a huge kiss on my 5 year old son. Cinderella played up the "jealousy" part. It was really cute. We all loved our food, even my son and will go back again!

 

[vester]

So its cinderellas wedding reception? Is she in a blue dress still? Just curious!

Anyone have pics?! hehe!

vester

 

[Girly_Qs]

Not sure if it's really a "reception" that's just the closest approximation I could come up with . . .. Cinderella is definitely in blue.

Here are some of our pics. Sorry about the distorted faces, but it's my dh's preference when posting pics of our kids, and I honor that . . ..

 

[ncmomof2]

1900 PF is our family favorite. the food and the characters are great. At the other, the characters are pretty good, but rushed. The food, not so much, yuck!

 

[Karpkg]

It sounds you already made your decision but I really liked the Akershus- breakfast, that is. The princesses we saw last September were Cinderella, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Belle. I loved that! The Norwegian banquet hall is very pretty and the breakfast was really good. A free picture with Belle was a surprise for us.

We did the 1900 Park Faire dinner and that was nice too. For us it was definitely the characters and not the food that made that dinner. They announced Cinderella and Prince Charming and they walked in, arm in arm. The Stepmother and stepsisters came behind and they were hilarious with their faces and bickering. When the waltz began the Stepmother came to our table and pulled my daughter out and twirled her a couple of times. She loved that!

If there was a way to find out for sure if Cinderella was going to be there at the Akershus, I would do that, mainly for more than just 1 princess. But if not, then go for the 1900 Park Faire if Cinderella is a must.

 

[Twitterpated!]

So its cinderellas wedding reception? Is she in a blue dress still? Just curious!

Anyone have pics?! hehe!

vester

Go to youtube and look up 1900 Park Fare. There are plenty of videos of Cinderella and the Prince dancing, and the Prince dancing with some of the little girls. It's adorable! Plus there is video of the stepsisters and they look like they are a riot!

Keep in mind that it is a buffet, which some older guests are not too keen on. My dad HATES buffets! But it is also at the Grand Floridian, which is a treat on it's own, just to check out. When we went three years ago, my DD(3) was dressed up as Cinderella, and we got some beautiful pictures of her in the lobby, one of her standing at the Grand Piano as the pianist (in tails) played!

Have fun, whatever you choose!!!

 

[dawnbu40]

The character interaction at Park Fare is fun BUT the food is awful. We went last Mother's Day and we all left hungry. I would go with breakfast at Akerhaus which is a very good meal and we saw Cinderella there last year.

 

[honeydiane1953]

AKERSHUS is great. how do u pronounce it?

 

[Girly_Qs]

AKERSHUS is great. how do u pronounce it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Akershus.ogg

 

[danielle.st]

We had lunch at Akershus and dinner at 1900 PF. We much preferred Akershus. We saw Cinderella at both. We liked the food at Akershus more and thought the atmosphere was also much nicer at Akershus.

 

[danielle.st]

Also, at 1900 PF, they don't seat everyone in the main dining area. If you are off in the little side room, you can't really hear the announcements and can't see or be involved in the dancing at all. I wouldn't count on being able to be a part of all of that aspect of the entertainment.

 

[crcurton]

We have had breakfast at Akershus twice and really liked it. Cinderella was there last yr. We really loved dinner at 1900 PF. You can request to sit in the main dining area. It was a great Cinderella experience!!! She is our favorite princess and the interaction from all the characters was great!