Then, we headed back to the resort to change and get ready for dinner at 1900 Park Fare, a place we had never eaten before. Once we arrived, we went and had our pics taken in front of their enormous Christmas tree, while waiting for to get called. They give you a buzzer and you can walk around, while you wait. Afterwards, we lucked out and got seats on a sofa in front of the restaurant, since they were behind with their reservations. Luckily, we were just in time to watch and hear a bell choir, who were go good!
As we were escorted into the restaurant, they congratulated us on our anniversary and shared that it was Cinderellas and Prince Charmings first anniversary celebration! Besides the guests of honor, we would also be visited by Cinderellas stepmother and two step-sisters. We had read enough on the boards about this experience, so we were really looking forward to this.
First off, if you have never gone to this character meal, make time to go! It is very worth it. When we arrived, we noticed that we had special congratulatory place mats signed by all the characters which appear at 1900 Park Fare, both in the morning breakfast and evening dinner
The food is absolutely amazing. Its served buffet style, with foods from different countries featured. If I remember correctly, they had white rice with beef and broccoli stir-fry, in the Asian section. In Italian, they had a great meat and pasta dish. They had a carving station with ham and turkey. They had a chicken dish, with garlic mashed potatoes and various breads in the French section that was amazing! Then, in the Spanish section they had a great paella and Im Puerto Rican, so I can definitely vouch for it. There was also a very good chicken marsala, though I dont remember from what part of the world. As far as desserts, they had a self-serve ice-cream section, as well as tons of cookies, tarts, pies and cakes all pre-cut for you to take. If I remember correctly, they had carrot cake, cheesecake, and chocolate mousse, among their choices. They were also perfect sizes, so you could take a variety of desserts. We really pigged out, let me tell you!
Now, let me explain about the characters, who all looked remarkably like they do in the cartoon movie version! My DH actually said that Drizella looked like a deranged version of Snow White and sounded like the actress from The Nanny, Fran Drescher. At the start of the meal, Cinderella and Prince Charming danced together, to begin the festivities. What was so sweet, was that after dancing a while, they separated from one another and moved about the room, getting new partners for themselves from the children at the tables. You should have seen the awe in some of those kids faces! Afterwards, Cinderella and Prince Charming mingle among the guests, inquiring if they are enjoying themselves.
They are both super sweet, as you would expect.
Then, the stepmother and stepsisters began what I like to call the show. Lady Tremaine would approach girls dressed liked princesses and say, Okay, stand up and do something. Then, when they would stand up, she would continue to act bored, as she observed them showing off their outfits. If a little girl didnt know what to do when they stood up, she would tell them, Now, twirl around. When they finished showing off their dress, she would end with something like, Very nice, as though she couldnt care less, in a dry sounding voice. Since the kids seemed accustomed to her character, they took it all in stride.
The redhead, Anastasia, came out into one corner of the room shouting, MOTHER! in that annoying screeching voice we are familiar with from the movie. DH said, She sounds like she has a high-pitch Long Island accent! (no offense to Long Islanders). Throughout the evening, both Anastasia and Drizella vie for their mothers attention, often to complain about something, all while standing clear across the room from one another! They all responded well to flattery, which is how my DH and I decided to deal with them, when they each arrived at our table. Hey, we had to have some fun with this, right? They have to stay in character, and we kind of figured they would respond positively to the flattery.
When Lady Tremaine congratulated us on our anniversary, we thanked her and then I said, You know, Cinderella and Prince Charming may be celebrating their first anniversary, but you know they wont last much longer than a year.
Lady Tremaine got that wicked smile of hers on her face and responded, Oh, I know. I love the way you think.
We told Anastasia, You know that we came here just to see you! Of course, she replied, OF COURSE, YOU DID! After taking a picture with her, she would say, PERFECT! Of course its perfect, because Im in it!
Then, she motioned towards my DH, she asked, So, how did you snag this one? before posing with him.
It was a hoot!
When Drizella came over, I immediately told her, Dont worry. You deserve so much better than that Prince Charming!
She nodded emphatically and quickly said back, Y-e-a-h. . .like someone. . .with a personality (she said the last word rather high pitched), and then she laughed/cackled. I then told Drizella, You know, he (pointing to my DH) has a thing for you. My DH had agreed to play along with everything, so I waited for how this would play out. She responded incredulously and looking like she was interested, Oh, really?! Well, let me get a picture with you.
Afterwards, she told him, Now, you keep that! Look at it all the time so you can remember me!
To top it all off, after we had already gotten pretty far into eating our desserts, our waitress came over to our table and presented us with our own individual cupcakes, similar to the one they gave for us to share at Chef Mickeys (but larger), each with its own chocolate Mickey face candy on top.
In fact, servers came out all at the same time, to do the same thing to anyone celebrating a special occasion. Then, they announced that all of us celebrating a birthday, anniversary or engagement were to stand and everyone was to applaud. Immediately, a song began playing while everyone in the restaurant clapped to the beat and we all remained standing. Anastasia ran over to us and shouted to everyone within hearing, Theyre celebrating their 8th anniversary! Everyone, bow down! and then continued to shout to them all about how lucky I was to have found my prince. It was definitely a meal to remember.