Crystal Palace for lunch?

[MHSweb79]

I have booked my family here for our upcoming trip in May. Usually we go there for breakfast, which we love, but this trip we're staying off-site with a great breakfast buffet included in our room rate.

What do they serve for lunch? I checked the menu over at allears.net and I was very surprised at all the "different" dishes listed. I'm game for pretty much anything but my DH and DD are not adventurous eaters.

Has anyone eaten there recently and if so, did picky eaters find enough (boring) "American" food to eat? It's a pretty pricey lunch if they are going to come away hungry.

 

[Jessica527]

I have never eaten there for lunch, but I don't see why it wouldn't be just as good as their breakfast

I personally would eat at Tony's and watch the afternoon parade eating on their outdoor porch. Check it out

 

[libgirl1]

I swear I could have written that original post. We are also going in May...have picky people in the family and have only ever been to the breakfast at Crystal Palace. I am sure they will have a lot to pick from.

I am waiting for them to introduce more authentic African food at Boma (Ethiopian in particular- it is some of the best food out there...and good for you too).

 

[MHSweb79]

We already have an afternoon ADR for Tony's on another day and hopefully we'll get seated on the porch.

Still hoping to hear from folks who have eaten lunch/ dinner at CP....

 

[DisneyFamily123]

We LOVE lunch at Crystal Palace. In addition to the Pooh characters, the food is great, maybe the best buffet in Disney World. Plus it's convenient right in the park. And DS doesn't mind taking a break from all the MK excitement to eat since Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore are there.

There is a variety of delicious cold salads, many unique combinations beyond just macaroni and potato salad. The carved meats are my favorite. The salmon is very good too. I stick with those. But there are lots of other dishes - chicken, pasta, vegetarian, etc... and some more plain foods for children -- pizza, mac and cheese, etc. Desserts are pretty good and they always have a huge supply of delicious sweet strawberries. Ice Cream is the machine dispenser kind with a variety of toppings. The quality of food was much higher than other buffets -- food was prepared with more thought and was fresher.

Service always great. Out of 5 or 6 times, I only saw the buffet mobbed once. And it cleared in about 10 minutes. We just enjoyed our coffee and waited. We were in a hurry once... and the waitress got Pooh and Tigger (who we missed when they came around) to meet us for a quick hug and photo before we left. Awesome.

 

[Wendy31]

We love lunch at Crystal Palace!!!

It's been our traditional lunch on our 1st full day in the MK.

We've always liked that the buffet has had more than the traditional "buffet" type items... plus plenty of stuff for our kids.

I love the mandarin orange salad dressing! One year, I tried a great butternut squash soup. I remember a frittata (or is that fritatta?) on the buffet as well. And the desserts are yummy too!

However, it can be crowded at lunch!

I normally book an ADR for between 11:30 am & 12:00 pm, so we can get an earlier seating before it gets too crowded. Even w/ our ADR, we've normally waited 10-15 minutes to be seated.

However, the character interaction has always been good. Since you've been at breakfast, you know how the characters can be slow coming around to all the tables - that's an issue at lunch too.

I normally don't like buffets - I really don't like standing in line at a buffet after I've been standing in the lines for rides all morning. And, if it weren't for the yummy food & the characters, we probably wouldn't go back to Crystal Palace every year.

This year, lunch didn't really fit into our plans, so we're trying breakfast for the 1st time! We have an 8:05 am ADR! I'm excited about it, but I hope we don't miss lunch!

 

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

Had lunch there in January and was very happy with it. My fiance said (correctly that when CP tried to do fancy food (carved meats especially), they fell flat but their simpler dishes were sooooo goood! We stuffed ourselves on chicken nuggets, mushroom chicken, salmon, and some other type of pasta. Not boring and not quite everyday stuff. Just above, but very good if you are mainly concerned about meeting Pooh and friends. I would highly recommend it! I will say though that I hated every dessert there. Hopefully it was just a bad day!

 

[beckysmith]

I believe they've got pizza there if that's American enough.
I'm a picky eater and although I admit I didn't like everything I tried, they did have enough to satisfy me. But they've also got delicious desert which should make up for it

I will say though that I hated every dessert there. Hopefully it was just a bad day!

Aw, I'm sorry! :/ It must have been
When I went this past summer they had three flavors of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, orange) with toppings, brownies, and apple pie.

 

[MHSweb79]

OK- I'm feeling better about it. Both DH and DD will love the ice cream, if nothing else.

 

[wintershawl]

My Husband is a very picky eater. We have done lunch and dinner at CP. He always requests that we go back too! I would say there is plenty of food for all!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Our Ratings of Crystal Palace Lunch/Dinner:
. . . food price value: C-
. . . food quality: B
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: A
. . . food selection: B
. . . seating quantity: B
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: B
. . . eatery convenience: C
. . . staff friendliness: A
. . . staff helpfulness: B
. . . character interaction: B+

NOTE: Crystal Palace is probably the best character meal in WDW. In
most cases, one goes for the characters and suffers through the food. At
CP, the food is far above average, with a wide variety. Although overpriced,
the food is good and the characters have good interaction. If you MUST do
character meal, this is the best choice for food.

 

[scard192]

I am a picky eater too and CP was one of my favorite meals when I was there in Sept 09. I remember how good the salmon was and the meat on the carving station was really good. There was so much to choose from that I had no problem finding tons of stuff that I liked. Sides and salad was good too!

 

[bryannem]

I like to think of myself as a chicken nugget "expert" (I eat them at a lot of different places) and CP has some of the best ones I have ever had. The pasta was also very good. I am someone who needs to eat a lot of veggies and I was able to find a bunch of options for that as well.

 

[juliebug1997]

We already have an afternoon ADR for Tony's on another day and hopefully we'll get seated on the porch.

Still hoping to hear from folks who have eaten lunch/ dinner at CP....

Their lunch is really good! Their salmon is awesome and so is their flank steak. They have a good salad bar too with lots of choices and the kids have some good looking stuff too.