Crystal Palace Input Please!!!

[d96j97]

We've never eaten at Crystal Palace and my friend assures me that this is a must!! Our boys will be 11 and 12 and I doubt the characters will be of any interest to them. I would have liked to gotten a ressie for 8am or so but the earliest available was 9:25am on Dec. 8th. Is is really worth it to take an hour or so out of our MK "playtime" to eat here?

 

[TangaroaTiki]

If your kids have no interest in Pooh, Tigger, Piglet or Eeyore - skip it!!

That's the biggest draw. The food is a mediocre buffet.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I agree with Tangaroa Tiki . If your kids have no intrest in the characters then skip it. Cause that's a late ress.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

Sorry - but I totally disagree - CP is worth it. DH & I go for breakfast every time we're at WDW & absolutely love the breakfast buffet. So far we've found it to be much better than most of the other breakfast buffets available. We didn't enjoy the dinner buffet, but thoroughly enjoy it for breakfast.

 

[KatMark]

We NEVER miss breakfast at the Crystal Palace. Love the puffed french toast and Pooh and friends (and we are 50 and 55 years old!). We normally do an 8:00 a.m. ressie, but we have on occasion done a 10:00 on extra magic hour morning. We get there at 8:00 and do all the rides up until 9:45 and then go have breakfast and then hit the park again.

 

[LAS321]

Breakfast at the Crystal Palace is a "must do" for us. We usually book it early in our trip because it really puts us in the Disney frame of mind.
The food is very good, the characters are fun but certainly not bothersome and the place for us is just really pretty and relaxing. I doubt that you'll be disappointed!

 

[DISNEY1975]

We've never eaten at Crystal Palace and my friend assures me that this is a must!! Our boys will be 11 and 12 and I doubt the characters will be of any interest to them. I would have liked to gotten a ressie for 8am or so but the earliest available was 9:25am on Dec. 8th. Is is really worth it to take an hour or so out of our MK "playtime" to eat here?

SKIP it!!! My boys (now 17, 14) usually eat and run. My hubby and I sit and finish coffee / wait for check while the boys run off to the rides. They too lost interest in the characters around age 8. Save your $$ for the souveniers they will beg for in Frontierland!!

 

[Diehl2229]

Great food IMHO and we love
thumbsup2

 

[Pirate Me]

We have never been to WDW without a trip to Crystal Palace for breakfast on a MK day!

 

[dani blaski]

The buffet has a good deal of variety and it is a good to very good hot filling breakfast. Better than the *free* continental breakfasts you get with offsite hotels. It is an attractive restaurant especially on a sunny morning! My DH and I went on our honeymoon, not knowing it was a character breakfast. We went for a good sit down hot breakfast. We ate a good meal, did not have to eat lunch. And I got some of the nicest pictures! Actually when our little one (2yo Monday!) sees those vacation pictures, he loves that tigger & pooh are with mommy & daddy!

 

[bkfree]

Crystal Palace is also a must for us, as is the 8am ressie. Because the ressie is so early, you can go to another park after you eat if it is not a MK day. To us, a big part of the magic is being on Main Street before it opens and it is empty. The BEST pictures we have made have been at this time.

When my 180 day is here and I call for ADR's. My first question is what day during our week has an 8:05 to 8:30 ADR opening at CP and I book it and then go from there.

We have had no problem eating there then hopping a bus to another park.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I am 24 and am going with my good friend for her 24th birthday in about 2 weeks. I am excited, mainly because I love the food and atmosphere. I would think that your boys would be more excited to head off and ride the rides in the morning than sit and eat with Pooh. I would suggest a quick breakfast at the hotel, and then maybe a sit down lunch when they are hot and tired and have ridden their favorites? They will enjoy the A/C and be less likely to try and rush you along. Have fun!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

If your kids have no interest in Pooh, Tigger, Piglet or Eeyore - skip it!!

That's the biggest draw. The food is a mediocre buffet.

Agreed. Plus, even with an ADR you almost always have to wait anyway here. It's okay, nothing special.

 

[danielle782001]

We always do lots of character meals...

IMO the food selection and quality is very good...They have a large variety of very good tasting food...We found the food at breakfast at CP above average....It is a great meal to start the day if you want to get into the park before it opens and plan to skip lunch and have an early dinner...

This is not the case with you because of the 9:25...What time does the park open that day? If it opens at 8:00 for EMH I might consider going...You can hit a couple of rides then eat in a fun atmosphere...But if the park opens at 9:00 I would skip it...

We only go if we can get the 8:05 seating when the park opens at 9:00...We actually will not go again once our kids are out of the toddler stage...Don't get me wrong, we are glad that we have been and actually have ADR for our next trip but I don't think we would enjoy it as much if we did not have our kids with us...There are many other places we would go instead...But for now DH and I are okay with it because the food is really good...

The atmosphere is made for kids...The place is very loud...Some might call it lively...We enjoy the atmosphere but it is not "worth it" to sit there for breakfast while the park is just getting going...By the time you get out the park will be getting crowded...That is a valuable riding hour IMO...

But if you like to sit down to a good breakfast, would like the experience at least once, think you would like the child-like atmosohere, and do not mind missing some good riding time...Go!

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

We have ADRs at Crystal Palace for 9:30 in the evening and will be bringing 2 of our sons with us and they love pooh and friends. THey do not know about this trip but will be so excited!! As we have never experienced a character meal!

 

[OKW Lover]

If you don't have any interest in the characters, then don't pay the "character premium" for your breakfast meal. You can get breakfast food they will like at a cheaper price.

Also, you probably don't want to spend the early morning hours at a restaurant, when you could be taking advantage of the shorter lines for attractions.

 

[dani blaski]

Crystal Palace is also a must for us, as is the 8am ressie. Because the ressie is so early, you can go to another park after you eat if it is not a MK day. To us, a big part of the magic is being on Main Street before it opens and it is empty. The BEST pictures we have made have been at this time.

When my 180 day is here and I call for ADR's. My first question is what day during our week has an 8:05 to 8:30 ADR opening at CP and I book it and then go from there.

We have had no problem eating there then hopping a bus to another park.

I do think it is where Crystal Palace is located and the morning sun until about 10:30--it makes for exquisite pictures!

 

[dani blaski]

We have ADRs at Crystal Palace for 9:30 in the evening and will be bringing 2 of our sons with us and they love pooh and friends. THey do not know about this trip but will be so excited!! As we have never experienced a character meal!

I just wonder how long mine may put up with my love of Tigger

 

[autumnsmommy]

I think I'll skip this one with a party of 3 if I ever have to do it again. We were crammed on a 2-top table , and another chair was brought over and the table turned 5 minutes after we were seated. Waitress was mediocre, dessert was the best part of the meal. Had to chase down Pooh, our table was skipped even though we were seated on the character rounds. I loved this on our last few visits, but were previously a party of 2. I've had better service, and a better experience overall in the past.

 

[ChefaStepha]

I think I'll skip this one with a party of 3 if I ever have to do it again. We were crammed on a 2-top table , and another chair was brought over and the table turned 5 minutes after we were seated. Waitress was mediocre, dessert was the best part of the meal. Had to chase down Pooh, our table was skipped even though we were seated on the character rounds. I loved this on our last few visits, but were previously a party of 2. I've had better service, and a better experience overall in the past.

This is exactly what happened to me. Go somewhere else, and save your money!