After about four years of being closed, we finally got the opportunity to dine at 1900 Park Fare during our last trip to Walt Disney World in June 2024. Read on to find out how we booked our reservation, what we had to eat, and what characters we got to interact with.

Reservations

Screenshot taken from the MyDisneyExperience App.

Much like any restaurant at Disney, reservations are highly recommended. Six weeks prior to our trip I woke up at 6:00am to book our reservation. As soon as 7:00am hit, I clicked through to our dates and was able to book for 6:50pm.

To book you can:

Utilize the My Disney Experience App.
Go online to disneyworld.disney.go.com
Approach the restaurant check in desk to ask on the day of to see if you can be added to the walk-up list.

Things To Know

You can enjoy 1900 Park Fare for Breakfast from 8:00am-12:00pm or for dinner from 4:00pm-9:00pm.
The food is classified as American, and it is buffet style dining.
They do accept the Disney Dining Plan.
Breakfast will cost you $54 per adult and $34 per child, plus tax and gratuity. Dinner will cost you $66 per adult and $41 per child, plus tax and gratuity.
You will meet characters from classic Disney films as well as newer favorites.
Credit cards must be provided at the time you book a reservation and will be charged a per-person fee if you don’t show up for your reservation or fail to cancel in accordance with policy.
The restaurant is located in the main building at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and does not require a park reservation.

The Ambiance

1900 Park Fare has been designed to take you back in time to the early 20th century with whimsical carousel theming throughout. Once you enter the blue doors above, you will be welcomed into a hallway where you can check in for your reservation. This is a wide hallway space with some cushioned couches lining the walls and some fun carousel artwork to admire while you wait (or you can wander around the GF lobby and nearby gift shops).

Once your name is called, or you receive your text message that your table is ready, a cast member will escort you into the dining room. There is a main dining room and then a kind of smaller room farther back from the main room. The open space makes it easy for families, characters, and servers to move around. Make sure you take the time to look up! There is a lot to look at!

Inside all around the border of the main dining room there is exquisite impressionist style Disney artwork.

You will also see Big Burtha, a turn of the century organ from France that has been in the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa since 1988.

The Characters

Once you are settled at your table, the cast member who led you there will give you a post card that has the characters autographs on one side and is blank on the other. They will also give you a pencil and instruct you to write down your wish so that the “wish makers” can help make it come true during the wishing ceremony that will happen a little later during your dining experience.

Our cast member let us know that our server would be right with us and also told us that we would be meeting four “wish makers” or characters while we dined and that they typically came one right after the other so to be on the lookout and once we saw them about two to three tables away to wait at our table so that we did not miss our opportunity to meet them.

The characters were super engaging and delightful. They all noticed my birthday button and wished me a happy birthday and then found a way to personally engage with me and Matt.
They all took photos with me and matt or me or matt and even agreed to take a selfie.
Even though you are given a pre signed post card, they will absolutely sign autographs if you ask them.

Mirabel from Encanto was the first character to come by our table.

Tiana came by next, and we talked about her gumbo that was available on the buffet, as well as her new attraction that was due to open the following week.

Aladdin came by next and was adorable and told us where we could look for Jasmine when we got back to Magic Kingdom later that evening.

Lastly, we were greeted by the great Cinderella herself! She was so sweet, and she loved my kitten ears and we talked about her beautiful gown and how the mice helped her make it, but how they would not love the kitten ears (they would be afraid of course).

During our meal we also heard an announcement over a loudspeaker that the wishing ceremony was about to take place. See my video below of the ceremony. It was an endearing moment that just continues to remind us of all the ways that Disney creates magical moments for everyone.

The Food

This is a highly coveted dining spot for three main reasons. 1-the characters, 2-the luxury level food options of the buffet, and 3-the strawberry soup.

Because it is a buffet there are no menus. Once we got to our table, our server came over and shared the drink menus with us (pictured below) and also told us about the complementary drinks that were available (sodas, waters, etc.). You can go up to the buffet as many times as you want, you just have to get a new plate each time. If you are an adult, you can even eat from the kid’s options, and our server highly recommended the chicken tenders (they were delicious).

Some of the choices are:

Peel & Eat Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce
Tiana’s Gumbo with Spicy Andouille Sausage
Baked Salmon with Saffron-Lemon Butter
Carving Station
Prime Rib
Curry-roasted Chicken
Roasted Garlic Sausage with Tomatoes, Herbs, and Braised Cabbage
Impossible Merguez Sausage with Zucchini Noodles
Grand Floridian Strawberry Soup with Fresh Straberries and Whipped Cream
Mediterranean Kale Salad
Couscous Salad with Dried Fruits, Almonds, Mint, and Parsley
Focaccia with Sun-dried Tomato and Herbs
Mashed Potatoes
Glazed Carrots
Green Beans
Classic Favorites for Children (Pizza, Chicken Tenders)
Vanilla Cupcakes
Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake
Toasted Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Custard and Hibiscus Creme
Warm Chocolate Cake
Grand Floridian Financier

Kids Choices

Our waitress recommended that we try the chicken tenders, and they were crunchy and delicious. I tried mine with the honey mustard sauce and it did not disappoint.

Adult Choices

Guys, I am not going to lie when I tell you that I went up for prime rib three times. The creamy horseradish sauce was to die for. I could put that on everything. The first time I went up they were out of it, and we asked them if we could have a refill. It took a good 5 minutes for them to bring it out, but it was totally worth the wait. They have little ramekins that you can fill up of horseradish sauce, house made steak sauce, or au jus. I do wish that there had been actual steak knives to use to cut the prime rib. The butter knife was not the easiest. The green beans were also super tasty and a nice green to break up all the meat. The focaccia bread and mashed potatoes were also standouts. I also may have eaten at least 8 shrimp.

Dessert

Most of the desserts were mini so we tried all of them (no judgement please). The Vanilla cupcake was nice and not dry. The warm chocolate cake was dynamite and was actually warm and came with vanilla creme anglaise that you could scoop yourself. The cake itself was not very sweet so that added the perfect amount of sugar. Of course, the best of the best was the Strawberry Soup. It was cold, rich, and truly one of the best things I think I have ever eaten. I put a healthy dollop of whipped cream on top of mine and one strawberry as a garnish.

All in all, we both agreed that it was worth the experience. We took a break from Magic Kingdom to come to dinner and just hopped on the monorail, so it was super easy to escape the heat. The character experiences were fantastic. The food was delicious, and they had a great variety and unique offerings. If you are able to snag a reservation, I highly recommend that you make it for 1900 Park Fare.

Have you been before? What was your favorite thing you ate? Who was your favorite character you saw? Tell us about it in the comments!

Character Dinner at 1900 Park Fare-The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa-Walt Disney World