There have been recent announcements about free dining for dates from 10/2010 to 9/2011! (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/) What great fun dining is in Walt Disney World, and when it is free, it is even better!
One of my favorite dining experiences was during a breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. This restaurant is located in the Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, one of Disney World’s monorail resorts. The ability to use the monorail makes visiting this restaurant more accessible to more guests. Assuming that the guest is using Disney transportation, they simply need to travel from their resort to the Magic Kingdom, and then take the monorail to the Grand Floridian. If the guest is instead traveling by car, the Grand Floridian is located in the Magic Kingdom resort area per the Walt Disney World signage.
I found 1900 Park Fare to have a bit of a formality that I had not experienced when visiting other character breakfasts. I would not say that there was anything in particular that spoke to this formality, but the atmosphere in the Grand Floridian and the restaurant is one of higher standards. Needless to say, as we sat in the nice chairs in the spacious lobby area of the Grand Floridian, I began to wonder if bringing my will-not-sit-in-a-seat-more-than-five-minutes son was the best idea! However, once seated, the food was quickly selected from the buffet. My son dug in and waiting for the characters to come and visit! The characters here were patient with my son and even visited the table for a few minutes. My son particularly loved seeing Alice in Wonderland and was even delighted further when he spotted her later in the Magic Kingdom!
All in all, my son was very good for this character dining experience. The food was good – see menu. I would definitely select this as a good choice for those fans of Winnie the Pooh or Alice in Wonderland or for those guests that enjoy a character breakfast, as this one is fairly easy to attend! Plan early to get a table to this or any other restaurant especially during free dining, as reservations are taken 60 days prior to your day of arrival and the character meals are a hot ticket!
Contributed by: Natalie H. (NDM#268). Natalie is the Disney Driven Life’s resident resort expert.
Natalie grew up in Nashville, TN. Married with one son, she lives on a farm. As if this weren’t enough to keep her on her toes, Natalie also works around the clock due to being self-employed .
Natalie often travels to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, giving her a vast knowledge of the Disney Resorts which she shares in her posts on The Disney Driven Life. She loves the research on the resorts and appreciates input for these articles as well.
In recent trips, Natalie has begun making a habit of meeting people while in the parks. This habit inspired her personal website, Meet the Magic, http://meetthemagic.com. This site helps her connect to others as well as hold space for Disney fans to post information about their Disney related sites. Her goal with this venture is to help people to “Meet the Magic” of their choice.
Our first experience with Walt Disney World was actually right here at 1900 Park Fare. The step-sisters were so funny with their carrying on in the dining room! In fact, this restaurant was what hooked us into flying across the country from Seattle instead of just hopping on a 2-hour flight to Disneyland. You must try it for dinner if you haven’t yet. You’ll be glad you did! 🙂