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One of our favorite Disney restaurants is 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort. In the mornings they offer the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast, and in the evenings it’s Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner. Both are buffet meals, eligible for Table Service Dining Plan credits.
In addition to these two meals, the venue offers the Wonderland Tea Party in the afternoons. This is an opportunity for kids aged 4-12 to enjoy tea, crafts, and character interactions sans parents. To date, my kids have been too young to participate in the Tea Party, but we have enjoyed the other two Park Fare offerings and am happy to share our experience for those of you considering one or both character meals.
When you arrive at the Grand Floridian, be sure to allow yourself extra time to enjoy the lobby and the grounds. The resort is one of the prettiest on the property, and the Alice In Wonderland themed splash area is ranked as one of the top 5 pools for little ones! (Pool hopping is allowed in certain circumstances: if you’re one of the lucky ones eligible to hop to the Grand Floridian’s pool, definitely make sure you set aside time into your schedule to do that before or after your meal!)
During the holidays there are Photopass photographers on the Grand Floridian’s main lobby. After you check in at restaurant’s front desk, there is a Photopass photographer waiting to take your family’s portrait in front of the mural at the entrance to the dining room for both Breakfast and Dinner.
Supercalifragilistic Breakfast
The Grand Floridian is located on the Monorail loop, which makes 1900 Park Fare a great breakfast option on days you’re planning on attending the Magic Kingdom, which is just one stop past the resort. Breakfast is from 8:00-11:50 most days. The buffet offerings are fairly standard for a Disney buffet, with the addition of the restaurant’s signature ‘Strawberry Soup’, which is served cold and is like a cross between a smoothy and a watery pudding. (Btw, the recipe is available online here, if you’re looking to recreate it at home.)
The characters you can expect to see at the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast include Mary Poppins, Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tigger and Winnie the Pooh. An odd assortment to be sure. I’d happily trade Tigger and Winnie the Pooh for alternative characters such as Bert or the White Rabbit, especially because the Hundred Acre Woods friends can be found at the Crystal Palace already.
The girls loved meeting Alice, Mary, and the Hatter. They were fun and spent a fair amount of time at our table chatting and interacting with the girls.
Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner
The Park Fare dinner is a reception of sorts celebrating Cinderella and her Prince Charming, to which the Tremaine Family has been invited (or possibly crashed). There’s a lot of entertaining back-and-forth between the Prince/Cinderella and the Tremaines, as well as other delightful moments, such as when Prince Charming and Cinderella take to the floor for a waltz. Prince Charming even chooses a lucky girl from the audience to dance with as well!
For those whose favorite princess is Cinderalla, this is definitely a must-do! I personally preferred the focus of having only Cinderella characters over the mix of princesses that you’ll see at the other meals. Though the food and the decor aren’t as regal as what you will experience at Cinderella’s Royal Table or Akershus, the character interactions are as just as good —- arguably better; my girls adored the back-and-forth snarky comments between the Tremaines, and you won’t see that sort of cross-character interaction at the other princess meals.
If you are traveling to Disney while Cinderella’s Royal Table is closed, or are unable to get a reservation for Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, or just looking for an alternative, definitely consider Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner. Expect to see Prince Charming, Princess Cinderella, her Evil Stepmother, and Stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella.
It seems like the Evil Eye is contagious….
We did the dinner buffet dinner in 2011, but opted to skip it in 2013 in favor of dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. The Happily Ever After Dinner left an impression on my eldest daughter: almost four years later she recalls it clearly and made it #1 on her wish list of things to do on our next trip. How’s that for an endorsement?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melissa has a new blog called PrincessRants that covers all things princessy—- from Disney Trip Tips to Costume Reviews, Crafts Projects, Frozen-themed Parties, App Reviews and more! If it’s got a tiara attached to it, chances are she’s seen it / done it / and has thoughts to share!
She has written here on my blog previously about her experience attending the My Disney Girl’s Perfectly Princess Tea Party, the California Grill, and tips for booking advance dining reservations.
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an18yearslife
Thursday 29th of September 2016
You know what they say: Characters May Vary
I Had the breakfast, it was very nice, but the juice they had was meh, but the characters were likable and I ate my meal quickly, because of the characters. Mad Hatter was pretending the drink out of my antenna of my BB-8 ears. Alice was very cute, and when I hugged her, her hair got stuck by one of my MagicBandits(Olaf), but got it off quickly. Mary Poppins called hugs morning cuddles, which was very cute. Pooh and Tigger well they don't need any introductions. Hope to have the dinner when I go in May/June and i'll tell you which is better.(Breakfast is best IMO).
kennythepirate
Friday 30th of September 2016
Thanks for the review!
anonymous
Wednesday 14th of October 2015
One time alice was not there and WENDY DARLING WAS THERE instead!!!! Another time Piglet was there in stead of Mary Poppins. Often times they bring characters from the Magic Kingdom
kennythepirate
Wednesday 14th of October 2015
Random replacements occur often in WDW.
Summer
Monday 20th of October 2014
We were there in June for breakfast and the Mad Hatter was not in attendance and was replaced with Bert. My daughter was thrilled. He was absolutely fantastic. It would have been so cute for her to meet the Mad Hatter while dressed as Alice, but having Bert more than made up for it. I agree, though, the Pooh characters are super random. Not sure if this works, but here is a link to a picture of her and Bert. :) https://flic.kr/p/nVzLAC