Best dinner buffet

[Minnie's House]

we have a choice between Akershus, Crystal Palace or 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
We do have a 2yr old that LOVES princesses.
Which would you pick???

 

[TheRustyScupper]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL & BUFFET RANKINGS (*rev: March 2016*):
Results are listed from best to worst
Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, breakfast-Lunch (moved from #1 Spot due to menu changes)
. . . Garden Grove Swan-dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's
Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)
Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . Chef Mickey's
.
NOTE: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House wins due to best food and the length of time the characters stay at each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible food quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table, for brief time at tables by characters and the new menu. For non-character breakfast buffets, we prefer The Wave (CR) or Trail's End (FW).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

For a full princess press, Kaershus. You get 5.

If she is willing to accept one princess, with a wacky family and a slack-eyed prince with a thing for feet, 1900PF is quite fun. But it is only one princess!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Akershus for the princess lover. You get several princesses, and you get to eat in a castle. MUCH better atmosphere than the other two choices. Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters are a hoot at 1900 Park Fare, though.

ETA: Since your daughter is 2, though, the Tremaines might be a bit intimidating. Go with Akershus.

 

[Minnie's House]

How is the food at Akershus?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Akershus dinner is fake-Norwegian. Which is to say it's not especially authentic, especially the kids' meals. (Noway isn't known for it's Mac and cheese or pizza.)

I should note that Akershus is more expensive OOP than 1900PF, if paying cash.

 

[Minnie's House]

Akershus dinner is fake-Norwegian. Which is to say it's not especially authentic, especially the kids' meals. (Noway isn't known for it's Mac and cheese or pizza.)

I should note that Akershus is more expensive OOP than 1900PF, if paying cash.

We have the dining plan so price isn't an issue.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

DH and I think the food at Akershus is great. DD is less impressed with it.

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

I would choose Akershus. I think it has the best food (for adults). A toddler is going to be so enthralled by the princesses that she won't much care what the children's options are & you'll be lucky if she eats a piece of cheese.

 

[cheshirealliekat]

We tried Akershus in May and it is fantastic. 1900 is also great, but you cannot pass up Akershus for a princess lover.

 

[Minnie's House]

Is Akershus a buffet?

 

[amy1981]

Appetizers are buffet style at Akershus, dinner itself is not. The only Princess at 1900 PF is Cinderella, the others are Lady Tremaine, step sisters & Prince Charming. If you want all princesses Akershus is your better choice, but of course you're paying more for it. In terms of food they're both okay, but what everyone is really there for is the characters. At two, your daughter will probably be thrilled either way with the experience! My girls were a bit older when we did 1900 PF, but they got a kick out of the step sisters & Lady Tremaine. If I were paying OOP I'd go with 1900 PF, dining plan Akershus.

 

[Momof2Singers]

Lots of factors as others have said. For Princess experience Akershus, hands down. If pooh and friends are important, Crystal Palace has a solid buffet. We do all of these, you need to consider the importance your child's preference as characters are to the family and go from there. If they are equally ok, I would go with the food choices you like since as others have said, the age of kids determine many times the quantity of food they eat, a 2 year old will not know the difference. My DH has several buffets he likes and CP is definitely one of them. Taking all your factors in consideration, I would choose Akershus.

 

[NicoleLarson]

No question, Akershus. We eaten there at all the meals and I prefer lunch, then breakfast and last dinner but they are very close and all are very good. You get the best of both worlds buffet and sit down meal. I don't think you could pay me to eat at 1900 PF again, it was just absolutely horrible, dinner not breakfast.

 

[Disgirl614]

1900 park fare was very good the last time we went in january

 

[theme_park_mom]

How is the food at Akershus?

Very good.
1900 Park Fare is good, too.
more princesses at Akershus, and so much fun to talk to the servers from Norway.

 

[Johnacon]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL & BUFFET RANKINGS (*rev: March 2016*):
Results are listed from best to worst
Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, breakfast-Lunch (moved from #1 Spot due to menu changes)
. . . Garden Grove Swan-dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's
Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)
Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . Chef Mickey's
.
NOTE: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House wins due to best food and the length of time the characters stay at each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible food quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table, for brief time at tables by characters and the new menu. For non-character breakfast buffets, we prefer The Wave (CR) or Trail's End (FW).

What changed at Tusker? I am sending my wife and 3 year old there twice on our next trip (December 2016)

 

[TheRustyScupper]

What changed at Tusker? I am sending my wife and 3 year old there twice on our next trip (December 2016)

1) They "Americanized" much of the buffet food.
2) The food that made Tusker special.
3) For dinner, they really backed-off on the meat tastes and spices.
4) Many people like the (more or less) Comfort Food angle, I prefer the past uniqueness of Tusker.

 

[addiln]

Foodwise I would go with 1900 PF. I think they have the best selection on food out of all the buffets in WDW. Also the character interaction was great the last 2 times we were there

 

[Momof2Singers]

OUR WDW CHARACTER MEAL & BUFFET RANKINGS (*rev: March 2016*):
Results are listed from best to worst
Best Food (quality first, then variety):
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, breakfast-Lunch (moved from #1 Spot due to menu changes)
. . . Garden Grove Swan-dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Cinderella Royal Table (since new menu)
. . . Chef Mickey's
Best Character Interaction (time with guest first, then friendliness):
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Tusker House, Dinner
. . . Ohana
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Chef Mickey's
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Crystal Palace (barely enough time for a photo)
Best Atmosphere (surroundings and ambiance):
. . . Cinderella Royal Table
. . . Tusker House, Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner
. . . Akershus Royal Banquet
. . . Ohana
. . . 1900 Park Fare
. . . Garden Grill
. . . Crystal Palace
. . . Hollywood & Vine
. . . Cape May Café
. . . Garden Grove (Swan, dinner)
. . . Chef Mickey's
.
NOTE: Results are listed from best to worst. Overall, Tusker House wins due to best food and the length of time the characters stay at each table. A close second is 1900 Park Fare. By far, Chef Mickey's is the loser, due to mediocre character interaction and almost terrible food quality. The very distant second worst is Cinderella Royal Table, for brief time at tables by characters and the new menu. For non-character breakfast buffets, we prefer The Wave (CR) or Trail's End (FW).

What has changed at CRT, we loved it last time and are going again next month. My girls are 17 and 22...loved all of it including the food.