Crystal Palace - Character Lunch

[kcarp]

Tell me about your meal & atmosphere. Was it worth it?

 

[3princesses4us]

I will be in the minority but here goes. Loved the characters and atmosphere, didn't care for the food at all. Definately will continue to back with the girls but am sticking to breakfast only.

 

[lady_hlh]

My DD who is 4 loved seeing all the characters from Pooh and getting big hugs, I think this was her favorite character meal. I'm not a buffet fan but I thought the food was pretty good for a buffet. They had a lot of choices on the buffet and many of them were different ethnic types of side dishes which was a nice change from some of the other food that we had on at Disney.

 

[DebbieB]

I had lunch there with 3 friends two weeks ago. I thought it was pretty good. The only problem we had is Tigger had a "break" right before our table and when he "came back", he started a couple tables past us. The cm's weren't paying attention, our waiter went and told someone and he came back.

 

[littleprincessmom]

I am putting on my flame suit but here goes

We just arrived back tonight from a 4 nt stay and our 3rd lunch trip to Crystal Palace.

The food was very good and has been every time we have eaten there. It is not gourmet fare but it is, IMHO, consistently fresh, well prepared and varied. For a buffet, no complaints. (And this is saying alot, as we plan our vacations around food !)

The CMs were very nice also, especially our server (think her name was Rhonda). We did wait 45 mintues with an ADR to be seated. I know I will be told that this is unusual but it is the 3rd time it has happened to us. In fact, we sat there (quietly and uncomplaining) so long that one of the hostesses came up to us looking for another family. I told her that wasn't our name but we would be happy to change it if we could get a table. She asked our name and went to check and apologized profusely, saying that the computer system had crashed and we had been overlooked. A very nice manager later confirmed this by coming over to see us and bringing us a fast pass good for any ride in Magic Kingdom. Much appreciated.

My complaint with Crystal Palace is the characters. Either the "handlers" don't do a good job of circulating them (especially Pooh) or the restaurant is just too darn big for those 100 acre wood critters to circulate (and i think it is the latter). Once seated, we waited an 1 hr. 15 minutes for Tigger and Eeyore. We paid and got up to leave without seeing the Main Event, Pooh Bear himself. Our server noticed us leaving and ran up to us and grabbed us and drug us to the other side of the restaurant, saying that Pooh had made a wrong turn and should have been to see us 30 minutes ago. We were one of, oh, probably 10 families they did this with while I was there. She was so nice that we felt bad leaving so we waited another 10 minutes to see Pooh.

I know this is more info that you were looking for (SORRY) and I am venting ! It is just that we have had similar experiences each time we have dined there. (I know, I am the dummy who keeps going back) My advice is that it is a good restaurant for lunch if you have 2 hours to spare in the Magic Kingdom to wait on characters that you could see in 20 minutes at the Judge's Tent. Breakfast may be another story.... While we have waited for characters before, we have never had a similar experience in any other character meal (Chef Mickey's, CRT, PSB, 1900 Park Fare, Ohana's, etc.)

Just my 2 cents!!!

 

[jwfla422]

I think it also depends on how busy the restaurant is and if they fill it to capacity. We go here for lunch whenver we go to MK, as this has been put on our "must do" list. Food is always consistently good at lunch.

From our experiences with character meals the past few years...littleprincessmom, your situation has happened to us on more than one occasion at all of the character meals. There were times dd would drive me crazy as she wouldn't eat until the characters came around. I got to the point where I told her she must eat or I wouldn't make any more PS's at these meals. Our last visit a few weeks ago, dd missed Eeyore, but we decided not to wait since she's seen him before.

As far as the wait for your table, there was really no excuse for that. That really wasn't right, especially with ADR's. We had checked in early and the CM told me we'd probably have to wait until our ADR time and it could be a 1/2 hr from that time (45 min is too long)--for the record we were then seated 2 minutes after checking in. We've never waited more than 15 minutes here, but it could vary as this place can get very busy!!!

But, I do also have to mention there have been some long waits at the judge's tent too. Pooh and friends is usually the shortest wait, with the princess line being an average 30 min-45 min wait after 10 am. We waited 25 in Minnie and friend's line last visit in the morning.

OP--sorry to get a bit off topic, to answer your question. Atmosphere is cheery, food is great with LOTS of variety, for both adults and kids, characters are fun, but don't go for just the characters alone.

 

[Slapster]

Been there twice for lunch and as many have said the food is decent buffet style grub. I like the salmon and the carving station usually has some good meat.

Character interaction isn't a big deal for us, but I did notice that they took a long time to make it around. They seem to get caught in the buffet traffic which slows them down. If characters are a big thing for you, you may be disappointed.

 

[mousebit]

We went twice (breakfast and dinner) during our May 05 trip and thought the character interaction both times was fantastic! It was just my granddaughter and myself celebrating her 10th birthday. The characters were great--sat down to "eat" with her, danced with her, hugged her, posed for lots of photos, signed autographs, etc. I was amazed how how much time they spent with us and the quality of the interaction. I've read here that others have not have the same experience and I'm not sure why. We thought it was definitely a highlight of the trip. Lots of priceless photos. We also went to CRT and Chef Mickey's the same trip and of the 3 I'd have to say we enjoyed the characters the most at CP.

The food, on the other hand, was really nothing to write home about for either meal. It was not at all bad, just sort of typical buffet. But then again, we don't really go for the food. The ambiance, service and character interaction make this a definite for us.

 

[kcarp]

Thanks everyone!