Crystal Palace character interaction??

[TinkerbellMama]

Please share your experience...

We are going in November and ds (baby) LOVES Tigger!! Absolutely adores him, for some odd reason. And he has never watched a Disney movie or seen a cartoon in his life!!
Will we be satisfied with the amount of time ds gets to spend with Tigger if we have lunch at CP? I would be happy with 2 or 3 minutes, long enough for him to enjoy it and for us to take several pictures. I know they are probably very busy with other guests, but we are going in the off-season so maybe that will help matters. I just don't want to spend all the time and effort and money to go there if he won't really get to spend any time with Tigger. Is it guaranteed that Tigger will appear? Thanks for the help.

 

[bballmom56]

I don't believe any characters are absolutely "guaranteed", but CP is Pooh and friends (Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger). When we were there last June, we did a 8:05 a.m. PS. We were one of the first seated and Tigger was the first character to come around. He spent quite a bit of time with us, I think because CP was still fairly empty at that point. We had a wonderful time, and it was even more special since it was a non-EE day, so we got to walk down an empty Main Street - just beautiful!

 

[mommykds]

Hi, we do this breakfast every time we go to WDW. The character interaction at CP is great. We espcially like Tigger too who always seems to come around more than once & likes to "bounce" with my kids. Piglet goes the fastest & Eeyore like to hang around more. Pooh stands in one spot & you go to him for photos/autographs. No character is guaranteed but Tigger has always been there when we have gone (which must be about 5 times now). You ds will love it.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Our last CP visit was over Memorial Weekend. The place was packed!! While the characters didn't linger at our table, they did come around at least 2 times. And we had 2 antsy little ones with us, so we ate our meal in record time. Normal families (translation=those with kids over age 4) probably saw the characters a couple more times.

 

[cavepig]

We just did Crystal Palace and the character interaction was good enough for my niece (4) and nephew (2). We saw most the characters twice and they spent plenty of time for pictures and video.

The funniest was another little boy kept following Tigger, and came over with Tigger to our table. Poor Tigger kept trying to politely shove him away so my niece and nephew could be with Tigger. So, Tigger was with us for awhile.
The only problem according to my nephew was there was no Rabbit!

 

[grodgers49]

CP is great. If you will take your time, you will see the characters more than once. Also, about once an hour they have a parade for the children where they follow Pooh, Tigger, etc. around the restaurant with the music playing loud. It is a lot of fun for everyone.

 

[Cplofdisneynutz]

We thought the interaction was great!! The characters were at our table long enough to sign an autograph and then pose with both of us for pictures. For 2 grown-up kids that was long enough, but with the children they hung around a few minutes more for hugs and playing. I think the characters really have a good time, for instance when Tigger came to our table he just took our autograph book that was laying on the table and started signing it on my head made for a great picture (see below) and fond memory. Hope you and your family have a magical visit

 

[Tinkerbells mom]

Our last trip was on July 2004 and we had breakfast at Crystal Palace. We had one of the later breakfast seatings. The characters were playing with my DD (3) who was just 2 at the time! Some even go down on the floor with her! They were really great!!!! We have some wonderful pictures and memories of that day! Only 88 days until our next WDW Vacation! MNSSHP here we come! Our family loves Crystal Palace for breakfast and this is one of the restaurants we try to go to everytime we visit!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Bump! Looking for more comments from lunch CP diners, if possible.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I'll add my 2c here. I have a great picture of Tigger tickling my then 9 month old daughter (she's 6 now and still loves getting tickled by Tigger) and she giggled uproariously.

We've had so much character interaction that my kids have never had that 'fear of large fluffy thing' stage.

The characters can really tell when to hang around and when it's time to move on.

I've had other character meals where Goofy actually chased my daughters under tables, around chairs, and over banquettes (it was January and very not crowded) screaming with delight, and we were all laughing so hard we couldn't catch our breath!

Just don't, for the love of pete, go over and hog them from another family. People will go absolutely ape on you.

 

[DeirdreTours]

For maximum character interaction, go for one of the last seatings. I think the CP serves lunch until 2:30. We have had a 2pm seating and a 2:10 seating. All the food is still there and we had the characters practically to ourselves. Tigger sat down and colored with my kids.

 

[lillygator]

Tigger actually fed dd at one point -

 

[lovesdumbo]

We celebrated DS's 3rd bday at CP for the earliest lunch seating (didn't want the kids too cranky) and my DD(11 months) LOVED Tigger. He sat down next to her and they "talked" for what seemed like 5 minutes. My friend said it could have been a commercial.

We also went last Oct for one of the last dinner settings and we were one of the last (the last?) families in the place and all the characters lined up together for photos. It was great! We love the food too. The tie dyed bread for PBJ's is really cool.

 

[lovesdumbo]

We've also had great Tigger interaction at Toon Town and Tigger is often in the store at UK in Epcot.

 

[drewsmom]

I have the best picture of my DS, then 3 and DH with Tigger, it's in a frame in our study. We were there at the last seating and got tons of character time. It was great memory and we are going back to CP for our September trip. Great food too!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Thanks for all the great stories and comments! I enjoyed reading them! :::Off to tell my mother we are having lunch at CP FOR SURE!!:::