Day 2 continued (1900 Park Fare)
We had purchased some items at Hollywood Studios and had drawings of Stitch we made (our daughter was thrilled) that needed to get back to the hotel. After a short rest we took the same route as the day before and caught the monorail to the Grand Floridian. We a 4:50 reservation and had about a half hour to make it from the Magic Kingdom monorail station. We were actually about ten minutes late because the monorail was "running at a slower speed" and basically sat at the Contemporary for close to 15 minutes and another 10 at the TTC, not to mention a slower stop at the Polynesian. Although we were late, we were taken back right away, got our picture taken and were seated in the front room.
We have eaten here in 2009 and 2012 and had positive experiences. It was a chance for our daughter, who was 6 and 8 on those trips to see Cinderella without spending a double credit at the castle. Since then, Cinderella has been added to the rotation at Akershus, which we do every time, so seeing here isn't a priority. What we always liked the best at this dinner was the interaction with Lady Tremain and the step sisters. We found out as we were seated that there were no step sisters this time and they substituted Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. This was a tremendous disappointment as we knew we would see those two, as well as Cinderella at Akershus in a few days.
Lady Tremain did her best to fill in the humor without the step sisters and said they were acting up and were not allowed to come and was disgusted because Cinderella invited the "sleepy princesses" instead. We told her we like her and her daughters more than the princesses (which we do) and she played it up everytime she walked by. It was funny and a good effort, but without the whole step family, this just lost a step.
We were also a little disappointed in the food selection. There were a few items that were different and good like (I believe they were called) Mongolian beef tips and a few other things, but we found ourselves eating the same items we already had at Chef Mickey's the night before like the prime rib, sliced turkey and mashed potatoes. We also ate off the child's offerings more here than anywhere else, mostly due to the selection.
Here was a taco, mac and cheese and Micky Ravioli (that were not at Chef Mickey's this time but have been in the past), and green beans. Most of this was on the children's station. I believe the green beans and jasmine rice were with the adult offerings.
Here is a small salad, prime rib, mashed potatoes and the beef tips. The beef tips were easily my personal favorite thing here. They were a little spicy, which I love. As good as they were, they couldn't make up for the selection issues elsewhere.
Here is another plate mostly from the adult offerings. There is a salad, baked catfish, potatoes and chicken with some green beans and something else I cannot remember even as I'm looking at it.
Here is the famous cold strawberry soup. My daughter got it and didn't like it at all. I finished it for her. It was OK, but nothing I would go out of my way to find somewhere.
Another adult plate with some different items. The pierogie was actually filled with a pumpkin type of filling. It was very different, but actually good.
Here is a last plate of carved turkey (adult) and Mickey ravioli (child's). Nothing else was looking appealing.
The desserts here are very good, but unlike Chef Mickey's and the Crystal Palace, do not offer ice cream. All here was very good except the bread pudding on the left. I didn't like it that much. The others were very fancy and tasty.
Another look at some of the desserts offered.
To be totally fair, this restaurant was on our "maybe" list up to when I booked the meals (exactly 180 out to the second). The food compared to previous visits in quality, but the selection didn't seem as great. A little kid would be OK because in addition to what was pictured there were also hot dogs available in the child's area.
The reason we ended up returning was honestly the step family, who carried the whole experience in the past. Without the step sisters, 1900 Park Fare was really lacking. The next trip we are probably have an over 75% chance of not returning. We may add Biergarten, or the Coral Reef instead. I am sure that a large factor is the fact that our daughter is now 11 and will be at least 14 when we return, so entertainment, more than princesses are becoming a priority. We still like Akershus for breakfast (as I'll add later) so seeing Cinderella twice doesn't have the same appeal as it would for a younger girl. If going anytime soon, I would check the boards and keep asking if the step sister thing is becoming the norm, or we were just unlucky.
All in all we agreed that this restaurant lost something from previous visits. It is always a treat to hang out in the Grand Floridian on a French Quarter budget, and restaurants on the monorail loop are handy, but we will probably be skipping this in the future. In addition, the bill here was about $15 less than Chef Mickey's, but for close to $140 for 3 adults, it wasn't the value it was in the past, even on the meal plan.
After, we saw that the monorail was broken down so we took a boat back to the Magic Kingdom before it started to pour. The crowd never really thinned out, but we got some things done before heading back at 11. Keep in mind that this was a Saturday and the Magic Kingdom was open until 2am. This meant that the crowds never really went down, even during parades. We did the same thing the following Saturday too. We kind of learned that the lines don't get shorter until well after 11 when the park is open until 2am. If going on that day, it may be smarter just to take a long nap and don't even arrive until 11. I think we might try and avoid the Magic Kingdom on these late days all together in the future because the crowds really were heavy on most rides.
The next day we had breakfast at Tusker House. More on that in a bit...