choosing between CP and PF, please help!

[MainStreetFireman]

Our DD will be 16, and our DS will be 13 on our next trip. We all still like character meals and always take photos, although we do not collect autographs anymore. My question:

For diners that have tried DINNER at either (or, ideally, both), please comment on the quality of food and character interaction (as well as which characters are present) at:

1900 Park Fare and Crystal Palace

Finally, if you have eaten at one of the above AND Chef Mickey's, please compare. CM was our first-night must-do to open the trip, and we are looking to mix it up a bit for our next trip.

TIA for your opinions.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Been to both many of times for bk & din. If I had to pick one it would no ? CP.

 

[janeapplemeadow]

I have been to all three (breakfast and dinner) Hands down CP has the best food, consistently. Chef Micki's depending on the time can run toward cold, picked over food. 1900 Park fare was awful. Now I'm not a real picky eater, but I do love good food and I would never recommend 1900 Park Fare. If food isn't the concern, and you really want to see characters, Park fare and Chef Mickey's have better characters. (Just plan on eating some where else an hour or two later)

 

[mmtska]

I've only been to the CP and it was delicious. I found everything that I tried to be very good-hot when it was supposed to be hot, and cold when it was supposed to be cold. The characters are just the Pooh characters. I love Tigger so it was a good fit, but if characters are a big part of the choice, it is just Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet.

 

[catne]

have been to both for dinner, and liked both of them. The characters at Crystal Palace are Winnie the Pooh & friends...will your teenagers be interested in that? Food is over-all better at Crystal Palace (though there are some losers on any buffet, lol), but we also found plenty of good things to eat at 1900 Park Fare. It's a buffet -- take small helpings of anything that looks good...go back for more of the things you like.

Characters...well for teens & adults 1900 Park Fare Dinner wins for us, hands down, over the top fun. Cinderella, being her sweet lovely self was there & Prince Charming, too (my 20 yr. old DD wanted HIM for dessert) But the real entertainment is the stepmother & the Step sisters...omg, what a hoot! We laughed until we cried at those girls (and boy do they look like they enjoy their job...getting to be rude to customers! Well, not actually "rude" but in character sarcastic, smarmy, loud & brassy.)

Avoid the pasta dishes at Park Fare & you'll be fine. The strawberry soup is outstanding...good salads, good meats, wonderful mashed potatoes. Asian food good, too. Just not the pasta! I have noticed that seems like people dining later have a lot of complaints about Park Fare -- long time to get seated & not-fresh-food. We were seated in the first seating of the evening - seems like it was about 5:30 that night...and all the food was fresh...we did not wait long, either. And you can skip the picture taking session if you want (it's expensive, and no characters involved, so what's the point?)

 

[ktlm]

Went to all 3 the first week in May (CP lunch, not dinner). CP the food and characters were both really good. ( Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore). We had been there before and had a good experience that time too. Both times we got seated right around our ADR time. PF the food was just okay. Not bad, but not good either. The characters were cute and fun, but seemed pretty rushed (Cinderella, Prince Charming, Stepmother, Anastasia, Drizella). The stepsisters do make good faces for pictures (trying to look "ugly" when they really aren't). We got there and checked in close to 30 minutes early, but didn't get seated until over 45 minutes after our ADR time. CM- disgustingly dirty restaurant and nasty food (except for the salads and desserts which were great). It's not like it was the end of the night either. We won't ever go again unless we try breakfast. The characters themselves were really good though (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto). Also, we got there at 6:40 for our 7:05 ADR and we were actually seated around 6:45-6:50.

 

[ktlm]

Just saw the previous post. Just FYI our PF ADR was not late, it was at 6:15 p.m. and we didn't get a table until after 7:00 p.m.

 

[Mommytobree]

I have done dinner at both 1900 PF and CP. For characters, I thought 1900 PF was better b/c it was very entertaining. It is like a mini "show" while you are dining, and very very funny. Drisela was screaming at the top of her lungs and pitching a fit, and so lady tremaine put her into "time-out" at a chair from someones table. For food though, Crystal Palace was much, much better.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I went to CP lunch and loved it. We went to 1900 Park Fare for dinner and food was BAD (maybe we had an off night) but characters were great. 1900 Park Fare breakfast is much better but the characters are Mad Hatter, Alice, Tigger and Pooh not step-sitters.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We ate dinner at both CP and 1900 PF on our trip last July. I liked both, but hands down, CP had MUCH better food and character interaction in my opinion! The food was very high quality considering it is a buffet (much more than what I expected). DH did not care for 1900 PF at all. We are going to eat in the castle for dinner one night on the next trip because DS4 really wants to and was disappointed we did not eat in the castle last time (I thought he would not be interested in Cinderella, the 1900 PF dinner was really more for me to meet her ).

We also plan to return to CP for dinner, on our second Magic Kingdom day on our next trip. We loved it so much, our kids will be 3 and 5 when we go back , and DH and I really enjoy it too! It's even a restaurant I could see myself going to without the kids because the little parades they have around the restaurant are just too cute and the food is so good.

So my vote is for Crystal Palace, hands down!

 

[tami82]

I too have been contemplating my 1900 park fare reservation and thinking of changing to CP for our last meal if i can find one. I think after doing Chef Mickey & Akershus, im not exactly sure whether i need to go to anotehr princess meal. Im leaning more towards CP now thinking i'd rather have a great meal on our last night.

 

[MainStreetFireman]

So far, the food looks to be rated much better at CP than PF1900. I admit that I was hoping for "comparable", or "only a little better", because the character interaction at PF1900 sounds great.

Please keep those opinions rolling in. Thanks again!