Tiana’s Gumbo & More New Foods at 1900 Park Fare Character Meals
Walt Disney World has revealed some of the new menu items coming to breakfast and dinner at 1900 Park Fare, the character dining experience at Grand Floridian Resort. This post shares a sneak peek at food photos, various other details, and additional commentary from us about the changes here.
To quickly recap, Walt Disney World announced earlier this month that 1900 Park Fare is reopening on April 10, 2024. Advance Dining Reservations for 1900 Park Fare open on March 5, which is also when additional details are supposedly going to be released. But at this point, we’re expecting a full menu to drop any day now.
This iconic Victorian restaurant at Grand Floridian will feature returning guest favorites along with a newly refurbished dining room and other special touches. Just like before, carousel theming is woven throughout 1900 Park Fare. This starts with a new mural that’ll serve as the focal point of the restaurant’s entrance. In one of the adjoining dining rooms, you’ll find drawings of carousel animals inspired by classic Disney films like “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Little Mermaid,” along with other carousel hidden details.
The artistic touches continue throughout the main dining room of 1900 Park Fare, where you’ll also find 12 new portraits created exclusively for the restaurant by Disney artists. Each one is inspired by the impressionist art style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and features a different Disney character as they hope, dream and wish upon a star…or a magic lamp…..or a wishing well.
Fans of 1900 Park Fare will also remember Big Bertha, an antique organ that has called the Grand Floridian home since 1988. Look for her in the main dining room of the restaurant, where she’s on display as its grand centerpiece. Another thing we already know isn’t going anywhere is the famous strawberry soup, so at least Walt Disney World has averted a noodlegate scenario with the reopening of 1900 Park Fare.
In reviewing the original Disney Parks Blog announcement for today’s post, I also noticed a new stealth update: “The Disney Dining Plan is a great way to plan meals around your family’s schedule, and it includes character dining options! Breakfast and dinner at 1900 Park Fare will each count as one (1) Table-Service Meal on the Disney Dining Plan.”
Curiously, Disney Dining Plan details have been removed from the 1900 Park Fare restaurant page on DisneyWorld.com, but I’d take this as definitive confirmation that these character meals will only cost one credit. This also means the prices should be in Chef Mickey’s territory, which would mean $66 per adult and $41 per child for dinner; $54 per adult and $34 per child for breakfast.
Of course, 1900 Park Fare could end up being less or more, but our expectation is that it about maxes out the 1-credit price range for the DDP. Assuming the actual cost is in that ballpark, dinner at 1900 Park Fare will be an excellent (top 5) use of a Disney Dining Plan credit and breakfast will be pretty good.
Anyway, on with the menu changes–which are courtesy of an update to the aforementioned 1900 Park Fare restaurant page on DisneyWorld.com…
Wish Makers Enchanted Dining
Wishing for something delicious? Your wishes can come true at 1900 Park Fare, featuring an all-you-care-to-enjoy buffet at breakfast and dinner—with visits from some favorite Disney Characters.
Tasty Cuisine – Feast on delectable dishes—some inspired by Disney wish-makers, like Aladdin and Tiana. Start your day with classic breakfast foods, like Eggs Benedict. At dinner, get a taste of New Orleans when you try Tiana’s Gumbo.
New photos posted by Walt Disney World also reveal the ‘So Many Wishes’ drink that’ll be joining the 1900 Park Fare menu. There are also cupcakes shown. Both the drink and the cupcakes contain a star motif, which could be a reference to Star from Wish…or just a generalized “wishing star.”
Some flavorful favorites await you at breakfast and dinner alike—including the Grand Floridian Strawberry Soup and a carving station full of savory selections. The menu also features kid-friendly options—like Mickey waffles at breakfast, as well as chicken, pizza and macaroni-and-cheese at dinner.
Beloved Characters – Here, you may meet Characters from classic Disney films, as well as newer favorites like Encanto and The Princess and the Frog. Each Character is known for making a wish… and making their wish come true.
These cherished friends may include:
- Aladdin (as Prince Ali)
- Cinderella
- Mirabel
- Princess Tiana (as a bayou explorer)
Character appearances and entertainment are subject to change.
A Stylish Setting – Artistic touches abound. 1900 Park Fare is delightfully designed to take you back in time to the early 20th century—with carousel theming, whimsical décor and impressionist-style Disney artwork.
Turning to commentary, I don’t have much to add given that we just discussed this very topic in last week’s post, Why Walt Disney World’s Changes to 1900 Park Fare Are Controversial Among Fans.
The more I think about this character meal, the less it makes sense. And honestly–the more reader discussion and debate, the more I’m persuaded that my initial reaction was wrong. (That’s one reason I love an active comments section where people aren’t afraid to argue–respectfully–and disagree!)
I’m still going to withhold judgment until experiencing 1900 Park Fare in person, but I think the points about this being an odd assortment of characters are well-made. The existence and enduring popularity of Story Book Dining with Snow White at Artist Point alone refutes a lot of the potential arguments in favor of these changes.
The menu that they’ve teased thus far for 1900 Park Fare doesn’t help. I get why they’re serving Tiana’s Gumbo given that she’s a character at the restaurant, but it just feels like an odd highlight for a turn-of-the-century Victorian-meets-Floridian restaurant.
Again, I can’t help but wonder whether this is a test or temporary measure until Tiana has her own restaurant, either in Frontierland or next to Fort Wilderness. But that could take years! (On a related note, a former character ‘friend’ did explain in the comments to another post that Tiana not wearing her dress could be due to a lack of clearance between tables.)
The changes to 1900 Park Fare strike me as a too many cooks in the kitchen kinda deal–in figurative and literal senses. Like there were three competing concepts for a character meal replacement, one of which revolved around the movie Wish. When that turned out to be a flop, instead of scrapping the idea and starting over, they just threw all of the ideas together and changed the concept to “wishes” to explain away how the grabbag fits thematically.
Wishes is not really a cohesive theme, though. It’s one of those generic Disney buzzwords (like dreams, magic, fantasy, or wonder) that is so open-ended it could mean anything and everything. Perhaps the actual execution in person, combined with the new decor and character portraits at 1900 Park Fare, will make the “wishes” theme work. We shall see!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on the new menu items coming to 1900 Park Fare? What about the character choices or the “wishes” theme? Excited that new meals are debuting, or would you prefer a return of the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast and Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
This is probably not a great fit for Grand Floridian but I would love love to see a Peter Pan character dinner!! Has this ever happened?
I 100% agree with a few of the comments saying there should be a Princess Tiana character meal at Port Orleans. Boatwright’s is an underrated restaurant with on-theme menus and atmosphere just waiting for a better hook! You wouldn’t even have to do anything except add some Princess and the Frog characters and market it. The previous Grand Floridian Mary Poppins character meal might seem like a grab-bag, but they are all classic British children’s literature characters, which is very on-theme for the resort. Also, strawberry soup next to New Orleans gumbo seems very discordant.
A Tiana themed restaurant would be great and perfect in Magic Kingdom or Port Orleans.
The weirdest thing to me is Aladdin (?) and I love Aladdin!
Agreed!!
I am so confused about Tiana’s Bayou outfit. In the movie Tiana didn’t really like the Bayou and there was no indication that she or Naveen would go back into the Bayou post-ending. Why not Tiana’s fabulous 20s flapper outfit that she was wearing in the song about her restaurant?
“Why not Tiana’s fabulous 20s flapper outfit that she was wearing in the song about her restaurant?”
While it would definitely look awesome, and it allow her to move through the restaurant more easily as Tom mentioned above, there may be some concern if it looks too much like what she’s wearing during the temptation sequence. (I’m not sure that it does, even if one can’t tell “yellow” from “gold.”)
Is all this “Wish” theming a precursor for Asha appearances at some point? The movie was cute, but forgettable. The movie just seemed like a vehicle for the end credits slow crawl of glittery outlined Disney characters for the 100th Anniversary.
My take is the opposite–that it was planned to be a Wish-themed restaurant and then the movie was a surprise flop, so they scrambled. I think that makes more sense than the other way around. Why would WDW theme it to Wish in the future given the height of the movie’s popularity has already happened?
I, too, am quite disappointed by the changes being made at 1900 Park Fare. The old lineup of characters were just delightful! Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the stepsisters were the perfect combination of elegant fantasy & romance, blended with comical fun! Our experience at Artist Point two days ago was wonderful, due to the great food and theming. They could have done the same here, but instead I fear that this restaurant has fallen victim to Disney’s recent obsession with D.E.I. (A worthy goal, but pleeease Disney …..use some common sense in its actual implementation.)
“Wishes is not really a cohesive theme, though. It’s one of those generic Disney buzzwords (like dreams, magic, fantasy, or wonder)”
I see what you did there! 😉
I did purposefully exclude treasure, which I think is less vague and generic. We shall see if that’s true for the Treasure, though! 😉
If they want to do a Tiana themed character dining experience, then create one, in a part of WDW where it makes sense thematically. I love Princess and the Frog and the character of Tiana. But the grand Floridian is a Victorian themed resort, and PatF characters and New Orleans gumbo make no sense there! As you say, “wishes” is a vague theme. I wish they had left this restaurant how it was prior to the close, and please give Tiana and her friends their due and give her a separate character meal! Port Orleans French Quarter would be perfect!
Well said! I’d love to see a New Orleans, Tiana themed restaurant at Magic Kingdom, as an expansion behind the old Splash Mountain ride! Would help with in park ADR availability, too!