While it's not our favorite dinner buffet at WDW, we liked it enough to go back. We would rate both food and atmosphere as good to very good. We've only had dinners there, not the character breakfast.
FYI our favorite dinner buffet is Boma.
We usually dine at Cape May every trip. There is something for everyone, and the food is pretty good. I feel the quality and selections have gone down a notch over the last few years, like just about every other restaurant at WDW.
It's at the Beach Club the environment is fun! Busy, noisy, but fun.
Although both restaurants serve different types of food and one is a character buffet during dinner I'd choose Crystal Palace just a little over Cape May clam bake.
The Crystal Palace food is a little better in my opinion.
We LOVE Cape May......it's one of our favorite places to eat . We usually do a breakfast or dinner every trip . Plus the BC is a beautiful resort to check out .