CRT vs 1900 park fare overall experience

[KJO516]

Ok peeps... Traveling with DH, DS 7, DD 4 and my parents. 1st family trip... I'd like to pick one special character dinner/meal. Note we will likely do tusker for breakfast on our AK _day.
DD loves the princesses, DS loves super heroes and villains.
Help me choose! what am I missing, and what, in your opinion, would give us biggest bang for buck for all?
CRT Cons:
Double dining credit
Just geared toward girls?
Food just ok (will my parents be put off )?

CRT Pros
THE Disney experience
Castle dining
dd can dress up in princess garb, maybe even do BB boutique for her/them?
May be able to get my son to buy into prince thing..

1900 cons:
Buffet
Only want dinner for characters there
Food quality?

1900 pros:
Characters will appeal to both kids, my son has bigger voice/expectations since he is older
Get to check out GF (we are staying at BLT)
One dining credit

Wha say you, people?

 

[MissDisneyDora]

I've done both. Though I really enjoyed 1900 Park Fair, CRT just has that little bit of something extra special.

In terms of food, to me CRT was a bit better than 1900 which is your standard Disney buffet- no real standouts there for me.

Character interactions at both are pretty comparable- so its about what better suits your needs. Do you want to get most of the princesses covered in one go? Or are Lady Tremaine and the step sisters an important Meet for you?

In terms of the two Dining Credits, I've done this a few times and find its still really manageable as we rarely eat a table service meal on the days we check-in or out. If you find you do have a hole in your dining schedule- you could always try and get a BOG breakfast or lunch reservation on one of your MK days. It feels like a TS but is really a QS.

Alternatively if you want to do Princess but don't want to give up the credits, Akershus at Epcot is a great alternative. The meals there are pretty good, the princesses are out in full force and the ambiance is good.

x
Dora

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

I prefer breakfast to dinner at CRT, but I would choose eating in the castle over 1900 Park Fare. I've seen many a boy get great attention from the princesses and they get a sword during the ceremony, while the princess gets a wand and wishing star. I can't imagine your parents not liking this experience as well. It's a must for us(no children) and when we asked my niece when she turned 16 (more like 25), she requested CRT.

 

[summerw]

Do you think it will be fun to eat in the castle? Then it will be. When we ate there in 2012, we thought the food at CRT was really good. However out of all the character meal buffets we ate that trip, we liked 1900 PF the best. They had more unique options that were crowd pleasers for the simple-eating crew I had. DS3 loved meeting the princesses in the castle who, aside from Cinderella, were awesome with him. However, we loved the sisters at 1900 PF. Ask them why they ripped the dress.

Overall, I think the castle is wonderful just because it's the castle and the food and characters were great, so if the castle seems like a good tradeoff for an extra dining credit to you, then it's the better choice. If you just don't want to part with that extra credit, 1900 PF is a great meal too.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL & BUFFET RANKINGS (*rev: August 2015*):
Results are listed from best to worst, in our opinion.
.
Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, breakfast-Lunch (moved from #1 Spot due to menu changes)
. . . Garden Grove Swan-dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's
Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)
Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . Chef Mickey's
.
NOTE1: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House wins due to best food and
the length of time the characters stay at each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far,
Chef Mickey's is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible food
quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table, for brief time at tables by
characters and the new menu.

 

[Nancyg56]

I like CRT at least once for famiies, and I think the food is good. Is it fine dining? Nope. But it is good. If you want the experience of dineing in THE CASTLE< pick CRT.

1900 Park Fare is a buffet and is pretty good for a buffet. The character interaction is so much fun! And you get to see th Grand, which is lovely.

I think if you are really just looking for Princesses, I would consider Akershus in Epcot. WE like breakfast, but they serve lunch and dinner there as well, and th Princesses are pretty much the same as in CRT, with Belle greeting as you enter. CIndy is usually at all three venues.

As far as ambiance, these are all character meals, so they all are pretty loud. In August 1/2 of our party got stuck in DTD and it had been storming, so they gave up meeting us. I remember telling my friend that I was glad they were not able to make it because as much as we were enjoying the girls meet their Princesses, it was chaotic that night, and by then my DS and my DSIL would have been stretched to their last nerves.

 

[hammie59]

We have done CRT for lunch and 1900 PF for breakfast and both were good. I feel that CRT is something every Disney lover should do at least once. They give out wands and swords to the kids for the wishing ceremony, which made my 11 yr old son happy . He wasn't too thrilled about posing with the princesses at that age, but at 4 he wouldn't have cared. My daughter wore her Anna costume and we got some great pictures.