Crystal Palace or Chef Mickey's?

[MommyRobin]

I don't know whether to leave well-enough alone with my ressies. This trip is all about the kids (dd is 7 and ds is 3). We have lunch @ Crystal Palace, dinner @ CRT, breakfast @ 'Ohana, dinner @ sci-fi, and breakfast @ 1900 PF. Everyone is thrilled with the times and locations, but I am disappointed that I had to drop Chef Mickey's so I could get the 'Ohana ressie. Crystal Palace is the only place that would not cause tears if I switched it for a Chef Mickey ressie, if one happens to become available. I just got CP today, so I'm wondering if it might come up, and I don't want to second-guess what to do if it does.

Is Chef Mickey worth dropping Crystal Palace? Or am I crazy for thinking this? We will already have Mickey and Pluto @ Ohana, but I'd love the Fab 5!

Opinions would be great!

 

[PamelaKay]

I don't think you can go wrong either way. Both are great for breakfast. I guess the queston is, would your kids be excited to see the Pooh characters. If they don't really know the Pooh Characters,then you might want to go with Chef Mickey's if the opportunity becomes available. I love CP because you get Piglet too! You can see Eyeore, Tigger and Pooh at Epcot in the toy store at the United Kingdom and the line is usually short.

 

[twokids0204]

Without a doubt Chef Mickey's.

Crystal Palace was our worst food and service of our whole trip last year.

 

[willis]

Without a doubt Chef Mickey's.

Crystal Palace was our worst food and service of our whole trip last year.

Was it breakfast that you had at Crystal Palace ? We had a dinner there 2 years ago( just ok) but booked breakfast this December . I was thinking of changing to 1900 Parkfare .

 

[DISNEY1975]

Was it breakfast that you had at Crystal Palace ? We had a dinner there 2 years ago( just ok) but booked breakfast this December . I was thinking of changing to 1900 Parkfare .

CP breakfast is one of my favorite. They have an omelet station which I love. 1900 has one too, but I hate the atmosphere. You are in an enclosed "local hotel ballroom"..no windows, lot of people..yuck! I dont like Chef Mickeys at all except for the characters.

CP is nice and bright, great characters and great food (for breakfast).

There is not one buffet at Disney that I like for dinner.

 

[twokids0204]

Was it breakfast that you had at Crystal Palace ? We had a dinner there 2 years ago( just ok) but booked breakfast this December . I was thinking of changing to 1900 Parkfare .

Dinner...

We have a 1900 Park Fare breakfast this coming trip.

We are really looking forward to that.

 

[KatMark]

Our last meal at Chef Mickey's for dinner was not good at all. Not a lot of variety, medicore food at best, restaurant was dirty and the service was horrible. Truthfully, we no longer do lunch and/or dinner buffets (except for Cape May Cafe and Biergarten). We only do Crystal Palace for breakfast (much better than Chef Mickey's in our personal opinion).

 

[Wendybird55]

If you want to try for Chef Mickey I would say to keep checking the online reservations to see what (if anything) is available. I was also told by a CM at WDW Dine that lunch at Chef Mickeys is seaonal so you may have to switch the CP lunch for a Chef Mickey Dinner or Breakfast.

We've had breakfast at CP and the food was very good. One complaint is last year when we went we finished our breakfast and not one character had yet come by our table ... I don't know if the tming got off or they just sat us at the wrong time. DS really didn't care much if the characters came to him so instead of just sitting and waiting for a charater (it is a big restaurant) we left without having any of them at the table as we wanted to get to the park. And the funny thing is we celebrated DS birthday that week and he got his cupcake and song and even a card signed by the characters - just no character interaction!

We have also been to Chef Mickey for breakfast and no complaints with the food or service. My SIL went there a couple of years ago for dinner and did't like the food.

This year I didn't book Chef Mickey mostly for scheduling purposes and then recently DS said he wants to go there again ( I think more top see the monorail and big mural on the wall then the Mickey or the food). Anyway - we're leaving 9/3 and when I first checked there was NOTHING for breakfast or dinner any of the days we're there. I kept checking the online reservations to see if anything would open up and I saw a 9:30am availability on the day I had CP reserved. I called right away and got the ressie (that was about 2 days ago) and have not seen an availability since.

So I say, just keep your eyes out...If a ressie opens up at Chef Mickeys for a day and time that would work with your schedule then go for - it was meant to be. If not, don't worry - I'm sure your family will enjoy CP as well.

 

[Cat0727]

Our last dinner we had at Chef Mickey's wasn't that good. Crystal Palace is better for lunch/dinner, imo.

 

[Stinger5]

IMHO, Crystal Palace is a phenomenal breakfast. I wouldn't do Disney without booking it. Another idea- make your breakfast ressie there as early as possible and you can get into MK before the gates open to public. This will give you GREAT photo ops on Main Street USA without huge crowds!!!!

Best of luck with your decision and keep us updated!!!

 

[kirby428]

Chef Mickey's was more fun for my bunch Twirling towels and monorails gliding by overhead. The characters seemed more playful. The smell of the Grand Canyon Conc is just fabulous. Next, it is in the resort. The crowd will be a bit more...um...resort like. Am I insinuating something? No no no no no! yes

 

[jeanninepl]

I definitely vote Chef Mickey's. We ate at Crystal Palace two years ago and it was awful. The food wasn't great but mostly the restaurant, I found, dirty -first time I was in a bathroom at a restaurant in Disney and felt that it was unclean.

Chef Mickey's is much nicer, well-organized, and cleaner.

 

[wdwgirl1]

In my opinion you can't go wrong with either...especially with kids.

We did Chef Mickey's supper in July and loved it. We thought the food was good, and the character interaction was good.

We also did CP for breakfast and really enjoyed it. This was our first time in over 20 trips to do this restaraunt. The food was wonderful and the characters were terrific.

 

[whitney37354]

1900 PF had Tigger & Pooh in June, along with Mary Poppins, Alice, & Mad Hatter. Maybe that would sway you to CM instead of CP?

We did both and they were both okay. CM was our first character meal, so it's special to me. At CP our server, from Australia, sang "Happy Birthday" to DD, so it's special to me too!

As far as the food, I didn't find anything outstanding anywhere, but Ohana was my favorite as far as the food goes.

 

[neile45]

CP has a much better breakfast (in my humble opinion), plus if you get the ressie early enough, you can go down main street and get a pic of the castle with no one around (which is awesome)

 

[KatMark]

plus if you get the ressie early enough, you can go down main street and get a pic of the castle with no one around (which is awesome)

Yes, that is an added bonus to CP!