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News 1900 Park Fare at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort reopening in April 2024
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
flyerjab
Well-Known Member
You don’t. Your standards aren’t lower than other people’s standards on the forums. Your standards are your own just like I have my own. They aren’t better or smarter or have better culinary intellect.
My time at WDW is closing in on two decades. One thing IMHO that has done nothing but improve during that time is the food. I recall our trip in 2009, thinking “this is it? Burgers, pizza, fries?” With our trips today, food is one of the things I look forward to. Topolino’s, 3 Bridges, Toledo’s, The Boathouse, Narcoossee’s, Geyser Point, Citricos, Flying Fish, pretty much the entire Landing at Disney Springs, Tiffins/Nomad Lounge, Satu’li Canteen, Brown Derby, Yak and Yeti, Jiko and Boma at AKL, California Grill, Epcot’s festival booths - I could literally go on and on. The breadth, depth, variety and overall improvement of the culinary scene at WDW is fantastic. Others may differ on this matter - it is a free world after all - but I agree with you on this.
DisneyDodo
Well-Known Member
To save money, Disney is using one of the TBA animatronics in this location until the ride opens.
There have been several reports of guests getting confused by Tiana responding to picture/autograph requests with “Oh my, my Mardi Gras party is starting soon and I don’t even have a band! Can y’all join me on an adventure through the bayou and help me find some musical critters?”
The secret ingredient is child labor.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
For me, it's the fact that the restaurant went from having 5 different characters for breakfast and dinner, to the same 4 at both. That's a bigger downgrade when it comes to variety IMO, and most of the characters were exclusive to this restaurant. I thought it had the best character breakfast mix before and enjoyed the interaction between Alice and the Mad Hatter. That's what people really liked about dinner with Cinderella's step family. Not just seeing them individually, but how they bantered with each other and other guests. Not sure if this mix will have that same energy.
I would also say this feels like another Princess meal. Yes, Aladdin himself isn't, but his movie is a part of the brand and appearing in his Prince Ali outfit* adds to the royal affair.
*which looks more like what is worn in the Broadway show than the movie, a change I never really understood, other than to make the costume "fancier". The live action remake did a better job of having something that resembled the original, but with greater detail
KDM31091
Well-Known Member
I do miss the old lineup; Anatasia, Drizella and Lady Tremaine are much more seldom seen, whereas I feel like Maribel and Tiana are thrown in our faces all the time.
I also cannot fully tell from the pics but it seems the carousel theming/horses are gone from the restaurant? That's kind of sad.
I also cannot fully tell from the pics but it seems the carousel theming/horses are gone from the restaurant? That's kind of sad.
Chef idea Mickey`=
Well-Known Member
I don't understand why the character line up is under such scrutiny here. They truly seem to have something for everyone here.
Cinderella serves for the fans of classic Disney, who tend to be very vocal when they're not being catered to directly. Could they have chosen a different classic character? Of course, but Cinderella is the poster for the Golden age in Orlando, and I'd take her over another modern character.
Mirabel serves for the younger children who are more familiar with Modern properties.
Aladdin serves for fans of the Renaissance era, and the boys who are sick of full princess lineups.
Tiana serves for those who are fans of the 2010s era of Disney, and look forward to seeing characters in rarer costumes (same as Aladdin).
I truly think this is one of the best line ups for a Character Dining meal in Orlando, with someone who every single guest will be excited to meet.
Wow!!* The way you put it together is so Beautiful. I would only just add Mary Poppins and Bert just because those two speak elegance and Grand Floridian pristege! No wonder the DVC building has the penguins fountain. It just feels missed not having Mary Poppins to me.
Mary Poppins and Bert - for the adults
Chef idea Mickey`=
Well-Known Member
Where would Aladdin go though
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
They were thinking this is a great way to cross-promote Disney+’s Tiana, which has been in production for years, has been taken off of the release calendar multiple times, and was apparently part of the background impetus for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Sort of like how Kenner produced action figures for the Robin character that was set to appear in Batman Returns, but was cut somewhere during production (but too late to stop the toy production)
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
they can reopen the restaurant in Morocco and create a specific character meal for Aladdin characters...they already do an Aladdin and Jasmine meet and greet in the pavilion...so thematic integrity clearly is not an issue...Where would Aladdin go though
Chef idea Mickey`=
Well-Known Member
I figured one of you guys would bring Morocco Pavilion up! Just keep the restaurant food Morrocain back there. I still think some kind of Aladdin themed resort would been fascinating. Never built Arabian resort on the monorail loop comes to mind.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
It would put something back into the Pavilion... Seems a shame to really have that one be a shell of what it was... And while not idea, they are already doing Aladdin and Jasmine meet and greets there... He would seem a better fit there than a 19th century American seaside resort anyway....
DisneyDreamer08
Well-Known Member
Mammoth Club has a review up on YouTube from day 3 and Aladdin wasn’t there. Snow White filled in 
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
While potentially disappointing for guests, I’m not sure it’s worth facepalming over. If the actor was unexpectedly ill or otherwise suddenly unavailable, you kind of have to do what you can to make it work, and I imagine Aladdin is a role with fewer people available to fill in on short notice.Mammoth Club has a review up on YouTube from day 3 and Aladdin wasn’t there. Snow White filled in
pigglewiggle
Well-Known Member
Mammoth Club has a review up on YouTube from day 3 and Aladdin wasn’t there. Snow White filled in
I watched that. The character breakfast actually seemed to be pretty cute. The wishing interaction part was fun, the characters were engaging and the food looked pretty good.
DisneyDreamer08
Well-Known Member
Yeah I just feel bad for kids looking forward to meeting a somewhat unique character only to have him replaced with a character that is relatively easy to meet. Especially on day 3 when people are all hyped up for the grand opening. You would think they would have backups in place.
DisneyDreamer08
Well-Known Member
I do think the food looks good and it’s been getting good reviews. 1900 Park Fare used to offer unique characters that you couldn’t meet elsewhere or would be difficult to meet elsewhere. Now it just feels like a standard character meal. It’s not something I would necessarily prioritize.
The face palm was likely because it was only day 3. You'd think they'd have backups ready. It can't be a surprise that people get sick.
DisneyDreamer08
Well-Known Member
The number of restaurants has improved overall, with Disney Springs adding quite a few good options.
The quality of the food at the Disney-owned restaurants was decimated in the late '00s due to the emergence of the Disney Dining Plan. With it, they forced restaurants to cut down menus, use cheaper ingredients, homogenize the sourcing, etc. If people were paying in advance, they had every incentive to make the food cost as cheap as possible to save money. Famously the head of F&B, who had seen taking WDW from a burgers & fries resort to a world class food destination in the 90s/'00s with places like Citrico's, V&As, Jiko, etc left because he didn't like how they were no longer allowing restaurants to manage their own operations and menus, which was a key part to his effort. https://scottjosephorlando.com/dieter-hannig-leaving-walt-disney-world-co/
If you'd have gone to Chef Mickey's 15-20 years ago, for example, you'd have found that nearly every dish was made from scratch in-house (RIP to the homemade parmesan mashed potatoes). Now most things are either Sysco or prepped off-site.
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