As we all know, one of the best things about Disney World is the option to dine with the characters. This is a great way to see some of your favorite stars and have a really nice interaction with them that isn’t very rushed! Recently I dined at two popular character locations: 1900 Park Fare and The Garden Grill. What follows is my reviews of these restaurants. I am going to warn you that the content of this article may not be suitable for younger readers as it contains a few spoilers!
1900 Park Fare is a buffet style meal that takes place in The Grand Floridian. During Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner you will get to choose from a variety of foods including their famed chilled strawberry soup. The meal was ok. I enjoyed the prime rib and the chicken marsala. Dessert offerings were standard Disney sweets such as rice krispy treats, bread pudding and cookies. I thought the meal was decent but not as good as other similar character meals. It was not one of my favorite dining choices.
In terms of characters I was a little…what is the word I want here…shocked. Cinderella did not remotely look the way she did in the movie. To me she looked like any other girl who had visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique complete with slightly messy hair! I have seen Cinderella many times before and on this particular evening she just didn’t look herself. Lady Tremaine looked awfully young as well, Perhaps she has a new skin care regiment that she would like to share with us. Both ladies were very fun and entertaining so I was happy about that, but the step sisters stole the show. Not only did they look exactly how I remembered them looking, but they were so funny and offered spectacular interactions! I do want to be clear, though, that all the little princesses at the restaurant seemed none the wiser about Cinderellas appearance!
My Grade for 1900 Park Fare… C
This restaurant is located in The Land Pavilion in Epcot. Here you are served an all you can eat family style meal. This means that the waiters deliver as much as you care to enjoy of the dishes they serve! These dishes include a salad, bread with maple butter, turkey with stuffing, roast beef with mashed potatoes, and the fish of the day with a vegetable. Honestly, they could have just kept the bread, butter, and salad coming and I would have thought it the best meal of my trip. That butter is remarkable! The roast beef was also delicious. The turkey and stuffing was only ok, and if I had ordered it off a menu as my only entree I would have been disappointed. I cannot in good faith tell you about the fish. You see, I am from Cape Cod where some of the best seafood in the world can be found. For this reason I just cannot eat fish anywhere else. I know it’s crazy, but when you have the most fresh and delicious seafood at your fingertips year round and can eat it while looking at the ocean it was pulled from, you really don’t want it any other way. Dessert was a warm berry cobbler with whipped cream. It was so yummy!
The restaurant itself actually rotates and you can see different scenes from the Living with the Land ride! That is really cool. In terms of the characters this was one of the best interactions I have had! Mickey, Chip, Dale, and Pluto all visited our table not once, but twice! Mickey even sat down with us for a while and Dale stole our bread! This is a great chance to get some excellent photos with the characters!
My Grade for Garden Grill…B+
I hope you enjoy all your future character meals!
Jess is an agent with Pixie Vacations. You can contact her at Jess@PixieVacations.com. Also, be sure to check out her blog www.fastpassstomagic.com and like her page on facebook!
Related articles
- Which Disney Character Meal Is Right For Me? (chipandco.com)
- Disney Character Dining – Is it worth it? (chipandco.com)
Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.
Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.
Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel
For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!
I agree with your assessment of the characters at Garden Grill. We ate there in 2008 and while I found the service really poor, the food was yummy and the character interaction was the best I have ever had at any character meal. Terrific! I thought 1900 Park Fair was “fair” at best. The only fun thing about that meal was watching the step-sisters. The food was ‘meh’, as was the service.