1900 Park Fare Breakfast Review (A Not-So-Classic Character Meal)

1900 Park Fare has always been a classic character dining opportunity at Walt Disney World. When someone mentions the restaurant, a few words come to mind: Mary Poppins, strawberry soup, and those rotten Tremaines. But not anymore. Only the strawberry soup remains as a nod to the former breakfast that closed some time ago. It was a classic meal with exceptionally classic characters from Walt Disney’s legacy.

Things have changed. 1900 Park Fare is now a restaurant with modern touches and a not-so-classic character lineup. It’s definitely different, to say the least. You might think this review of breakfast at 1900 Park Fare is already starting to spiral downward. But I assure you that’s not the case. It’s more of a warning for the nostalgic. You won’t find any of that here, and that’s okay.

We never like to visit a restaurant or a hotel when it first opens for a review. It’s often a tough call because we know many readers are waiting to get the rundown on whether or not they should make reservations. But it’s been my experience that these types of establishments need real-life experience to get their footing and work out some of the kinks. I pay out-of-pocket for these visits and experiences, so we also have to consider our budget, schedule, and whether it’s a good fit for the site.

Our visit to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast was a couple of weeks after the restaurant opened. My friend Anna was in town, and it’s become our tradition to have a character breakfast when she visits. Anna is a travel agent, so I always leave the reservations up to her. While her visit was short notice, she diligently tried reserving 1900 Park Fare. If you read our 24-Hour Visit to Disney World trip report, you know that a cast member at Disney’s All-Star Music gave us a tip for securing reservations. She told Anna to select that we had a party of six in the app. Then, after making the reservation, to go back in and modify it to a party of two. Sure enough, the tip worked.

I don’t want to get into the unpleasant details of our arrival at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. But you need to know that they may require you to park (if you drive) in their cast member lot across the street. You’ll have to cross a busy intersection and if a storm pops up, you’ll want to have a rain jacket and an umbrella. It’s a pretty decent walk. So if someone in your party can’t walk long distances, you might ask if you can drop them off at the entrance. Hopefully, they will oblige.

1900 Park Fare sits adjacent to Grand Floridian Cafe at the back of the Grand Floridian’s lobby. If you’re visiting via the monorail, take the stairs or elevator down one floor and continue to the hallway at the back of the lobby. You’ll soon run into it. If you’re visiting the resort via watercraft from Magic Kingdom, you’ll walk from the boat dock toward the resort’s main building. It’s a pretty direct path. The restaurant is immediately inside the resort-side entrance.

1900 Park Fare serves two meal periods: breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is served from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. They seat guests until 12:00 p.m., and a cast member told us that the dining room was mostly cleared by 1:15 p.m. We made a late morning reservation so our meal could double for breakfast and lunch. When you’re paying this kind of money for a meal, you might prefer to be conservative with your food budget for the day. How much is breakfast? A meal here is one table service credit on the Disney Dining Plan.

We were seated toward the center of the dining room. The hostess gave us an autograph card with a small pencil. She told us to write down a wish on the back of the card. We didn’t really understand what she meant, and Mirabel from Encanto was almost immediately at our table. So our attention turned to greeting her and taking a few photos.

After Mirabel, I could see that Prince Ali, Tiana, and Cinderella were all at the row of tables behind us and would be there shortly. So we decided to wait before we got anything to eat. This is not typical for character dining, but again, it only recently reopened. Also, the restaurant was so packed I feared we might have to wait an hour or more before they returned to our area.

Our server squeezed in to get our drink orders while we were meeting characters. Prince Ali was next, and I think most will agree that he’s the most unique character at this meal. I don’t recall ever meeting or seeing Aladdin as Prince Ali anywhere at Walt Disney World.

Tiana was soon at our table, and we had a delightful conversation. We were impressed with her new outfit and enjoyed this interaction. She showed off her wedding ring, and I asked how she had managed that. She replied that she had gone about everything the wrong way and had even kissed a frog! Even though things had worked out for her, she did not recommend anyone follow in her footsteps. We both thought making some of those man-catching beignets sounded like a sweeter idea.

Our last character was Cinderella. She was the kindest of all the characters we met. She loves to talk about her animal friends, especially Jaq and Gus (Gus).

Here’s a photo of the character autograph card we received. I like the autograph card and feel it deters people from asking for autographs. It’s not that I mind them, but signing autographs takes up a lot of time, meaning it will take longer for the characters to get to your table. The card is an excellent substitute.

After knocking all the characters out in the first fifteen minutes, it was time to get something to eat. Well, it was time for me to photograph everything on the buffet and finally get something to eat. But I think it all worked out well because it was so late in the meal period most everyone had gotten their plates. Let’s look at what they had.

We were presented with a beverage menu that listed specialty cocktails, zero-proof cocktails, and specialty hot coffees. Regular drinks, juice, and coffee come with the meal. But should you want something extra, you’ll have plenty of options. (POG juice was also a complimentary option.)

On the opposite side, they had a wine list that included beer, hard cider, seltzer, and non-alcoholic specialty beverages. We saw quite a few guests with frozen cappuccinos.

Each end of the buffet had a kids’ area.

We’ll walk through and see what was available, starting with the potato tots in the children’s area.

This croissant-crusted breakfast pizza was also in the children’s section. Its bite really stood out as flavorful, so I was glad that I tried it. However, I wasn’t entirely sure it was a “kid-friendly” item.

These are the same Eggs Benedict served next door at the Grand Floridian Cafe.

Two Mickey waffles neatly remained while I was taking photos. They have to replenish these often.

Here are a few more items:

We tried the bread pudding and cinnamon pull-apart bread toward the end of the meal. Both were tasty, but the cinnamon bread was memorable.

I enjoyed the biscuits and gravy.

Scrambled eggs were available with or without cheese. A small sign overhead indicated that you could order a custom omelet. I asked the cast member attending the area, and she said you needed to place an order with your server. Neither of us ate eggs, so we passed. But if you would like a freshly prepared omelet, your server will have the details. Hopefully, you’ll get the entire spiel when you’re seated. Our situation was a little odd, with the characters almost immediately getting to our table as soon as we sat down.

I did not try the spice tofu scramble, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same on the menu at Cape May Cafe and Boma, Flavors of Africa.

Related: Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast Review

I was happy to see the option to get chicken sausage and thought this was of good quality.

Here are a few more things.

This is the same cheesy hash brown casserole you can order at Grand Floridian Cafe. It’s a Grand Floridian staple for a reason. It’s delicious.

I also enjoyed the beef and potato hash. However, I’m unsure about the sauce. I didn’t try it.

The grits were extra creamy and cheesy.

I tried one of the doughnut holes from the pastry section pictured below. Unfortunately, it was a little stale.

Next, we had the famous Grand Floridian Strawberry Soup with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. This stuff was popular! I went to try some toward the end of the meal, and they were completely out. I should have grabbed one while I had the chance. I’m sure they would have brought more out, but at that point, we were already stuffed.

A few cereal selections were available for those with picky eaters.

Lastly, they had a ham on the carving station. We both thought the ham was one of the best things we tried.

Anna allowed me to photograph her plates. She does a much better job of making her plates look pretty. Mine is always a hodgepodge with tiny spoonfuls of everything to try. Ultimately, we enjoyed everything other than the stale doughnut hole. A few things stood out, like the ham, hash brown casserole, breakfast pizza, and those Mickey waffles.

Everything else was good, but you probably know how regular breakfast food tastes.

We were both impressed. It was also noticeable that everyone around us was having a good time. I’ve been to enough character meals to notice how people croak when they get the tab at the end. So either everyone around us was on the Disney Dining Plan, or they fully expected the expensive check. Yes, it is a costly meal. (We have a budgeting calculator in the Resorts Gal Community that will help you plan and figure the cost of every meal almost down to the penny. It also calculates the cost of your vacation down to the snacks!)

Before we wrap up, there is one thing I’ve yet to mention. During our meal, Jiminy Cricket’s voice came on over a speaker’s voice. He encouraged everyone to get their wishes and hold them up high in the air. You may remember we were told to write down a wish when we arrived. This little extra lasts a couple of minutes, and everyone waves their wishes in the air simultaneously during the wishing ceremony. As far as I could tell, the children seemed to love it, and let’s face it, that’s who these kinds of things are for.

This is also about the time the character lineup started to make sense. The characters at 1900 Park Fare are all known for making wishes! Mirabel wishes to save the Encanto, Tiana wishes for her restaurant, Cinderella wishes to go to the ball, and Aladdin ultimately wishes to free the Genie. So, wishes are the common thread that ties them together.

Here are a few more photos of the restaurant’s interior.

Ultimately, we enjoyed our breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. It was fun and something I might do again if someone was interested in returning. No, it is not the classic character restaurant it used to be. The interior felt fresh and modern. It aligns with other updates we’ve seen around Disney’s Grand Floridian. The character combination is an interesting mix. But I would imagine the lineup appeals to a good deal of guests.

1900 Park Fare is what I would call a not-so-classic character meal. With this new addition, I must re-rank our top choices for character meals. It won’t replace Topolino’s Terrace as our favorite, but I believe it will come in at a solid second place.

For more information about character dining at Disney World, you might like:

• The Crystal Palace Breakfast Review
• Topolino’s Terrace Breakfast Review
• ‘Ohana Character Breakfast Review
• Tusker House Restaurant Breakfast Review

In the Comments

We hope you enjoyed this 1900 Park Fare breakfast review. Will you plan a meal here? Let us know your thoughts or any questions below in the comments. We are happy to provide answers based on our experience.