Is Dinner at 1900 Park Fare Worth the Price?

1900 Park Fare is back! After a 4+ year closure, we are delighted to dine here once again and share our thoughts with you. Is 1900 better or worse than it was before? Are the characters and food worth a visit? We answer all that and more!

1900 Park Fare

1900 Park Fare is a character buffet meal located at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. It is open for breakfast and dinner only – there is no lunch service here.

The restaurant has been closed for over 4 years as the resort has undergone a massive refurbishment since the parks reopened in 2020. 1900 Park Fare, in particular, underwent a lot of changes.

Prior to its closure, this was one of the most popular character dining experiences. Guests could visit with characters like Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter, and Alice for breakfast. At dinner, Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters roamed around tables.

Dinner Menu

Dinner is served buffet style with servers taking your drink order and then sending you off to the buffet to fill your plate! It is $66/adult and $41/child, plus tax and gratuity. Or, you can use one dining credit. Compared to other restaurants, this is a great use of a dining credit. Just be aware you still need to tip!

You’ll be happy to know that, in addition to the breakfast menu, the famous Strawberry Soup is also on the dinner menu! It comes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Yum!

Starters include French rolls, Focaccia with sun-dried tomato and herbs, assorted cheeses, shrimp, potato salad, broccoli slaw, fruit salad, kale salad, and couscous salad. A salad bar with romaine lettuce, mixed greens, and all the toppings is also available.

You’ll find entrees like roasted garlic sausage with tomatos, herbs, and braised cabbage; “Impossible” merguez sausage with zucchini noodles; curry-roasted chicken; a carving station with prime rib and ham; baked salmon; and Tiana’s gumbo.

Sides include macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, glazed carrots, steamed Jasmine rice, and chicken noodle soup.

And finally, finish your meal off with the following desserts: Grand Floridian Financier (almond cake with sea salt caramel and toasted meringue); fudge brownies; lemon-blueberry cheesecake; warm chocolate cake with vanilla creme anglaise; vanilla cupcakes; chocolate chip cookies; toasted coconut cake; and strawberry soup.

Kids can enjoy chicken tenders, pizza, pasta (plus meatballs and marinara sauce if they desire), and corn.

Food Review

Susan and I (Monica) tried our very best to sample everything on the buffet. The great thing we love about buffets is there is something for everyone – from the most adventurous eaters to the pickiest of palates.

Some standouts from Susan include the peel-n-eat shrimp, baked salmon, and curry-roasted chicken. She shares that the salmon was perfectly cooked, and the shrimp was seasoned with Old Bay seasoning.

My personal favorites were the starters (broccoli slaw, breads, and salad) and the carving station. The breads were soft, and the carving station is always a safe bet for those with less adventurous palates.

We both loved the strawberry soup and warm chocolate cake with the vanilla creme anglaise! The strawberry soup tasted like a fresh smoothie, and it definitely lives up to the hype. In addition, the chocolate cake was warm and filled with chocolate fudge!

Buffet meals are great choices for Disney World vacations. While on the more expensive side, there is something for everyone.

Unfortunately, we felt the rest of the options were lackluster. For example, the potato salad wasn’t salty enough; the green beans were limp; and the chicken noodle soup was basically water and huge pieces of chicken. It just felt like everytime we tasted a dish, there was something “wrong” with it.

Disney knows the highlight of any character meal is the characters, not the food. It’s been my experience that most of the time food at Disney buffets is not that good.

Characters

One of the big changes is the new group of characters. You can meet Aladdin (in his Prince Ali outfit), Tiana in her working outfit, Cinderella and Mirabel. Right now, you can’t find Aladdin and Tiana in these outfits anywhere else on property, but they do meet elsewhere.

So, while these characters aren’t super rare, you can meet them in different clothing just like you may meet Mickey in his different outfits.

As far as interactions, we loved seeing Tiana and felt her mannerisms were the best. We talked about her new ride and how the critters may be hungry for some of the food at the buffet. I love classic Tiana, but it is also really cute to see this other side to her.

Characters will sign for you, but you will also receive an autograph card. On the backside is a place for you to write your own wish. Throughout the dinner experience, all the characters will come out and interact with diners as Jiminy Cricket gives a little talk about wishes.

Final Thoughts

We knew going in that the food probably wouldn’t be spectacular. Overall, we were not surprised. It felt like Disney was trying to mesh together some flavor profiles from the various cultures of the characters (curry chicken for Aladdin, gumbo for Tiana, carving station for Cinderella). I’m not sure they did that in a seamless manner, but the great thing about buffets is you can usually find something that will please everyone.

If you don’t care about the food and only want to meet the characters and have the 1900 Park Fare experience, I suggest breakfast because it is cheaper. If you want to see what breakfast is like, read Kate’s review HERE.

While Kate didn’t care for it very much, Susan and I found the idea of the wish to be cute. It would have been great to see Asha here at 1900 Park Fare since her movie is literally called Wish! I also like that they kept Cinderella here as well. It feels like a connection from the “old” 1900 to the “new” 1900.

Speaking of connections, Big Bertha (the organ centerpiece) remains at 1900! Be sure to check it out during your visit along with the Hidden Mickey that is hiding in one of the new pieces of artwork around the dining room!

As a repeat Guest, I probably wouldn’t eat here again. In fact, I typically don’t repeat buffets unless there is something new and fresh about them.

If you are visiting Disney World for the first time or maybe the first time in a long time, I think you should consider adding 1900 Park Fare to your plans. It is worth enjoying once. Disney is ushering in a new group of friends that may appeal more to younger kids than people who grew up on the classics. And I think that’s pretty great.

Have you had the chance to eat at 1900 Park Fare since it reopened? Share your thoughts with us below. And, pass this review along to your friends who may be curious about it!