Character Dining for little ones: Crystal Palace or Cinderella's Castle?

[nessz79]

Hi everyone, this is my first thread here! We live in Florida with our two little boys, ages 4 and 2. I am going to be taking a short visit in November for 2 days with my mother and my 2 boys (who will be 4 and 3 at that time). I was thinking of a character breakfast the 2nd morning and can't decide between the two character breakfasts: Cinderella Castle or Crystal Palace?

My kids like all Disney characters, although they do have a thing for Cinderella. I see that Crystal Palace is a good deal cheaper according to Disney's site. What do you recommend?

Thanks so much!

Vanessa
DH, DS (4), DS (2)

 

[Mouse House Mama]

They are both nice and we have done both more than once. I personally would book Crystal Palace. It is just such a nice place to eat. The food is great and the characters are plentiful! (Pooh and Friends) In fact, I wish I was there right now! If you go there make sure to try the french toast. It is my favorite!!!

 

[pooksma]

I really can't compare not having been to Cinderella's b'fast but CP has become a family tradition for us. Took DS at age 2 , 4 and again this summer age 6. (Helps that I like it too!!)

 

[jenny2]

Yep, I vote for CP too. It's more fun for the kids - they do a parade with Pooh and Piglet around the restaurant.

 

[LISAVWL]

Crystal Palace has become a family tradtiion for us as well. We try to book an early seating, 8AM, so we're in the park before it opens. By the time we're done with breakfast the park is just about opening and we're already in. It's nice to get a jump start for Dumbo and the rest of Fantasyland! We were just there last week and my kids loved it! My usually shy DD4 and DS3 jumped up to march in the parade with Pooh and Eeyore. It was a blast and the food is great!

 

[traci]

We have done both with young kids also.

CRT is neat because it's in the castle. The Princessess are charming. The food was okay (we did lunch). Mommy really got into it The kids liked it, but not as much as me!

CP was a bigger hit for our kids. The characters are really fun and the food (we did breakfast) was good.

Of the two, I really like CRT. But my kids enjoy CP more. We haven't been back to CRT yet. In a couple years I think they will appreciate it more. We did CP again last year and we are doing it again for our upcoming trip in September. That and Chef Mickeys are really great for young kids in my opinion.

Have fun deciding

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

I would probably do Crystal Palace or even Chef Mickey's. You're right that CRT is crazy expensive.

 

[jenseib]

I've not been to any yet, but I would think your boys would enjoy the CP as well a little better. I was also going to suggest doing Chef Mickeys as well. We are doing a breafast at Chef Mickeys and a dinner at Crystal Palace. My DD is only 2 and doens't even know any princesses really yet, but she LOVES Mickey Mouse and seems to like the Pooh Characters too.

 

[pjb0216]

Another vote for CP, my DS (7 and 5) love it!

 

[PenguinWaiters]

Yet another vote for CP. We did both on our trip last week, and while we all enjoyed CRT, CP was by far the BEST experience we had! We did a late breakfast reservation (10:20am) which was good because my DD did NOT want to get up that morning! We got to the park in time to go right here so we were all a bit frazzled, but the CMs and Characters were so great that we immediately felt wonderful.

Also, because we had a late seating, we actually got to see all of the characters come around a second time. My DD was much more comfortable by this point and interacted with them even more. At CRT we waited so long for the princesses that we actually left before Mary Poppins made it to our table.

Here is my favorite pic from our breakfast at CP:

Whatever you decide - Enjoy!

Terri

 

[Tink561]

I vote for CP too. We didn't love CRT but I might do that again one day now that I have a dd.

 

[herodrx1]

I agree CP seems to have much better character interaction than Cinderella. I bet your kids will LOVE it!!

 

[brymolmom]

Unfortunately, CRT was the biggest disappointment for character meals on our last visit. I will not be doing it again - at least not for awhile.

We've done CP a couple times and enjoyed it both times. We will do this one again.

 

[nessz79]

Wow! Thanks everyone! Looks like CP is the best choice (and the one I was leaning towards for the cost anyway!). Thanks again for the replies! PenguinWaiters- great picture!

 

[bzzymom]

I agree with CP as well. We went there when DS was 2.5 and he loved it.

 

[beattyfamily]

CP for sure. Its now an annual tradition for our family and my kids' favorite meal.

We did the Castle breakfast a couple of times, before the changes, and it was worth doing once but no more.

 

[CastleCreations]

Have you thought about the character breakfast at the Poly. It is fantastic. I think it's like $10 a person, and the character interaction is great. The kids also get to be in a little parade. They also take a photo of your family before the breakfast and offer it to you to purchase after your meal. The food was great. I still can't figure out what they put in those eggs. And we had a great view of the Castle and were able to walk the grounds and look in the art shoppe.