Better character breakfast - Crystal Palace or Cape May Cafe?

[goodeats]

If you could only choose one - Crystal Palace or Cape May Cafe for breakfast? Assume you're staying at the Beach Club and would be going to MK that day so transportation is not an issue.

 

[jenjersnap]

It is going to be a pretty even mix of preferences, I bet. Here is my take:

CP: huge buffet, most of it tasty. Poohs puffed French Toast is really great. It is noisy and loud, but the interior is quite pretty. Character interaction has varied from great to really awful (the crabby Pooh episode of 2009 is still stuff of family legend around here. )

CM: quiet and more relaxed. We find the food options very, very limited and uninteresting. The surroundings are meh (very hotel dining room, KWIM?). Character interaction is usually fantastic.

For my money, CP is the better value but we usually stay at BC or YC so catch a breakfast at CM too...we do it for convenience and it is edible. But it is one of my least favorite character breakfasts.

 

[williamscm3]

We like both...if I were forced to choose just one, it would be Crystal Palace-pre park opening if possible

 

[POTCfan]

I like both as well. If you are looking to get up early and get into the park before it opens, I would recommend Crystal Palace. It will take some planning and travel time, so you would have to get up early - though you would also get a head start on the park. If you are looking for a more relaxed morning, I would recommend going to Cape May, because getting to it is not going to be as stressful - but then you are most definitely getting to Magic Kingdom later.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I like both...good food, good character interaction, consistent, good service. If I had to choose, I'd give the edge to Crystal Palace because...

1. You get 1 more character at CP
2. Breakfast Lasagna
3. Possibility of pre-park opening meals

 

[asbyrneva]

Food CM - more options
CP - better interactions
Vote: CP early entry MK (non-emh day)

We do CM on a day we are headed to EPCOT not on an MK day because it would waste MK time.
Assume 730 breakfast reservation finish by 830. Go to bus wait. ride bus. Get to. gates with everybody else at 915 am
Hit main street 930.... Could of done 2 rides at least and on to your 3rd (assuming not SDMT or A&E)
CP on MK day wins everytime. If you cant get a pre opening time do a late breakfast/lunch

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Crystal Palace is so pretty, and I really like the Pooh characters.
I have stayed at BC and walked past Cape May breakfast, but not eaten there. Coming in and walking past Cape May character breakfast from StormAlong Bay, it was always very loud, kids running around, adults yelling (at/to their kids, not other adults or cast members), pandemonium. Maybe it was just timing of when I passed, but reason I have not eaten there for breakfast. I do like Cape May Clam Bake, but you are not inquiring about that.

 

[burberryplaid]

Crystal Palace....Tigger & breakfast pizza!

We do like Cape May though

 

[itchin2go]

My opinion:

We did CP once - pre-park opening. It is the only place where I felt like I had to fight for my food. Crowded, and the other diners were rabid. There may have been some very delicious, unique offerings, but it didn't matter because the whole experience was so unpleasant. Never saw all the characters. Won't go back.

Cape May - Expected nothing and were pleasantly surprised. Character interaction was outstanding. Food was plentiful, well-prepared and easy to get to. Nothing particularly memorable, but a much more enjoyable experience.

In terms of scheduling, I agree with previous poster that it would be better to do Cape May on an Epcot day. If I wanted a resort character breakfast on an MK day, I would do Chef Mickey's, Ohana or 1900 Park Fare. I haven't eaten at any of those, but as far as logistics and scheduling - those work better. We have done a 7:30 reservation at the Wave on an MK day, and it works out perfectly.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I like both...good food, good character interaction, consistent, good service. If I had to choose, I'd give the edge to Crystal Palace because...

1. You get 1 more character at CP
2. Breakfast Lasagna
3. Possibility of pre-park opening meals

That 1 extra character doesnt matter thou since theyre both different sets of characters. CP has pooh and friends, and CM has minnie, goofy, and donald.



We LOVE both. I like CM because its super quiet. I love the food there. But i also love the food and environment at CP too! My faves: breakfast lasagna, pooh's puffed french toast, and breakfast pizza!

Its a tough choice. But because youre going to MK that day, its a no brainer. CP makes more sense. Esp if you can get a pre-park opening time. And yes, i would do CM on an epcot or even HS day (all you need to do is take the boat from BC to HS or epcot, so easy).

 

[jennab]

I enjoyed Cape May more for food and characters. DS wasn't as familiar with Winnie the Pooh though and was with Mickey so he interacted more. I felt CP was more crowded and rushed too.

 

[goodeats]

Thanks everyone! CP only had a 9am reservation that morning (6 mo out!) so I switched to Cape May Café on our pool/resort day for the morning we go to MNSSHP.

 

[GillianP1301]

Cape May was my biggest surprise on our last strip. We loved it. The food on the buffet itself was one of our very favourite on site breakfasts and the character interaction was incredible. The whole experience was topped off by one of the best servers I've ever had on Disney property. The stars were aligned for us that day for sure, and I'm not sure it will be repeatable, but we're going back again this year to try.

Crystal Palace is a meal we have done every trip and it's also very enjoyable. Piglet is one of my son's favourite characters, so we are really going mostly for that M&G. Food here is good, although not as good as Cape May, IMO.

You really can't go wrong with either one there are definite advantages to both. Staying at Boardwalk and eating at Cape May would be a very nice and relaxing way to start your day. Getting an early ADR at Crystal Palace for an uncrowded Main Street photo is a great perk.

 

[Magic Band Defender]

Pre-park opening at CP. Our family's all time favorite!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

That 1 extra character doesnt matter thou since theyre both different sets of characters. CP has pooh and friends, and CM has minnie, goofy, and donald.

While it doesn't matter to you, it does matter to others and may be something OP might factor into consideration. You get 4 characters for $24.99 per adult at CP, while only getting 3 at Cape May for $26.62 per adult. While Disney inflates prices across the board, character meals are the most grossly inflated of the bunch. You may be fine paying more for fewer characters, and that's fine, but I addressed it since not everyone feels that way.

 

[goofyintoronto]

While it doesn't matter to you, it does matter to others and may be something OP might factor into consideration. You get 4 characters for $24.99 per adult at CP, while only getting 3 at Cape May for $26.62 per adult. While Disney inflates prices across the board, character meals are the most grossly inflated of the bunch. You may be fine paying more for fewer characters, and that's fine, but I addressed it since not everyone feels that way.

I just think its odd to count the number of characters at a restaurant. I've never heard of anyone counting them in all my years here on disboards. People usually go by WHO is there, mickey, donald etc. Not by the amount of characters present.

 

[Dislover1991]

Food CM - more options
CP - better interactions
Vote: CP early entry MK (non-emh day)

We do CM on a day we are headed to EPCOT not on an MK day because it would waste MK time.
Assume 730 breakfast reservation finish by 830. Go to bus wait. ride bus. Get to. gates with everybody else at 915 am
Hit main street 930.... Could of done 2 rides at least and on to your 3rd (assuming not SDMT or A&E)
CP on MK day wins everytime. If you cant get a pre opening time do a late breakfast/lunch

Agreed! We did CM on our Epcot day. 7:30 ADR, only 2 other families there so great character interactions! Even after spending some time looking at the Christmas decor at Y&BC, we still arrived to Epcot at 8:45.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I just think its odd to count the number of characters at a restaurant. I've never heard of anyone counting them in all my years here on disboards. People usually go by WHO is there, mickey, donald etc. Not by the amount of characters present.

I understand this is something you've never considered or seen before, but I'm on a number of WDW forums and this is hardly a unique concept for character meal selection. If OP doesn't want to use this as a selection factor, that's perfectly fine...but there's absolutely no harm in throwing it out there as a consideration. This angle isn't wrong just because you've never seen it and/or it's not an approach you'd use for your planning.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I understand this is something you've never considered or seen before, but I'm on a number of WDW forums and this is hardly a unique concept for character meal selection. If OP doesn't want to use this as a selection factor, that's perfectly fine...but there's absolutely no harm in throwing it out there as a consideration. This angle isn't wrong just because you've never seen it and/or it's not an approach you'd use for your planning.

I'd like to know which forums because i've never seen anyone post: "Well i think i'll go to Tusker House because they have one more character than Cape May". Its usually something like "I think i'll go to Cape May since im going to Epcot right after", or something along those lines. But oh well. As you said, no harm in throwing it out there. I learned something new today that's for sure.