Crystal Palace: This Time They've Gone Too Far

[Borgar]

First of all, let me say that our family loves CP. We've been there for both breakfast and dinner -- made it a part of every trip, and it's been fantastic every time.

Just got back from our 5th trip to WDW. We've gone every 2 years. When we were planning this trip, CP was a given -- made ADRs for dinner for our first day.

The food: fabulous, as usual. Our 2 daughters are older now (8 and 10), so meeting Pooh and friends was nice, but not a huge deal like when they were smaller.

Now I hadn't paid attention when I made the ADR, so I got a bit of sticker shock when I got the check (we're not on the dining plan). Especially since my older DD is now an "adult" in WDW terms, but still eats like a kid. $40.99 for some mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and ice cream? You've got to be kidding. I don't recall exactly, but I think that price has gone up by about $10 in the past few years.

Yes, I know you're paying for the atmosphere and the character interaction. And it is undoubtedly the best dining experience at MK. But I think this was our last visit to CP. Could we afford it? Yes, but it does take away from other parts of the budget. Do I think it's worthwhile? Not any more for our family. Counting gratuity, we had an equally delicious (OK, probably much better) dinner at Jiko a few nights later for $40 less than CP.

Sayonara, CP!

 

[scanne]

Wow! That is crazy $$$! I think the buffet prices are skewed but a lot of people that are on the dining plan choose the character meals as opposed to a true table service restaurant.

We are not doing a dining plan this trip and I have a couple of character meals booked. I am getting a TIW card, but if I were paying cash oop, I would think twice about CP and others at that price.

 

[pumba]

Yup ...scary is the word...but hubby and I always do CP with or without the kids and their kids....we like the atmosphere and the joy around us...it is a great Disney dinner...Our grandkids will be going with us in May and probably will eat the same thing you just mentioned...not much but they will dance with the gang down the aisles and we will take the noted photos...yup we are anxious as usual for this tradition of ours..

Hope you had fun during your visit to the House of the Mouse

 

[4HppyCamprs]

It is high. All the buffets are high. BUT we enjoy both the food (breakfast in particular) and the characters. That said we were skipped twice by some of the characters and I was a little miffed for the price we paid that we would miss the characters. The first time I let go as we still had plenty of time, the second time i was upset. So i talked to the character handler. He was SUPER! Just great. It would NOT have been worth the price without the characters.

Anyways point is that we pick and choose where we will return and CP is one of the few that we pay for. Yes even out of pocket as we did this last trip.

 

[NorweJenNY]

It's a lot to pay, but really, I think the bigger issue is a 10-year-old paying adult prices. It makes it really hard for families! They're already paying that price for mom and dad. Suddenly this kid who isn't even old enough to get his or her own job to contribute to the household finances, must dine at a premium price too!

We're probably not going to be doing these types of meals when my oldest turns 10, unless we actually are on a dining plan. I don't know a lot of 10-year-olds who eat mounds of steaks off a buffet. They're mostly still eating just the kid's food at this age. They're still kids! Good grief.

Still, the best way to get this type of experience in is to avoid times with holiday upcharges, and to go to breakfast - the cheapest meal of the day.

 

[mousegear]

We also have dined at CP every trip. We like meeting Pooh and his gang and love the atmorephere of the restuanrat. Also, the food at CP was always good. We've been on a dining plan so the cost didn't bother us much.

However, we turned our tix to APs and got TiW so this coming trip, we are actually re-thinking about character meals and buffets. $40/adult for buffet is too much for me. Thankfully, DS is 8 y/o and he had his share of character meals so meeting characters are not priority anymore. I asked DS which restuarants he wants to return and none of the character meals/buffets were on his list. We are sticking with other TS restaurants this trip and hopefully, that's the trend for us.

I